TC 153 
.H5 
Copy 2 



RAINFALL 

WATER SUPPLY 

WATERWAYS OF THE 

UNITED STATES 



BY 



HENRY WAYLAND HILL, LL.D. 

President of the New York State Waterways Association 



REPRINTED FROM THE 1920 EDITION OF 
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA AMERICANA 



RAINFALL 

WATER SUPPLY 

WATERWAYS OF THE 

UNITED STATES 



BY 

HENRY WAYLAND HILL, LL.D. 

President of the New York State Waterways Association 



REPRINTED FROM THE 1920 EDITION OF 
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA AMERICANA 



186 



RAINEY — RAINFALL 



<-& 



what is chiefly a liquor saloon business. The 
law brought large returns in money for city and 
State, the city receiving two-thirds and the State 
one-third of the net income from licenses, but 
it was generally conceded that this was at the 
expense of good morals. See License. 

RAINEY, Paul J., American explorer and 
big game hunter. A man of wealth, he 
traveled and hunted in the Rocky Mountains, 
the Arctic region and in Africa and India. He 
became prominent through the motion pictures 
of wild life in the jungles of Africa and India 
which he succeeded in taking during his ex- 
peditions of 1910 and 1914 and which attracted 
worldwide interest. He has contributed to 
Outing, the Scientific American Supplement 
and other periodicals. 

RAINFALL. Rainfall or precipitation, the 
generic term applied to the condensation of 
aqueous vapor into cloud, fog, dew, rain, snow, 
frost and hail, varies greatly in the several 
zones and in the successive seasons and at dif- 
ferent altitudes. Temperature, by which is 
meant the temperature of the air at a given 
place and elevation, is one of the controlling 
physical factors in determining its annual rain- 
fall or precipitation. The atmosphere, con- 
sisting according to Prof. Julius Hann of the 
University of Vienna of the following elements 
and proportions, nitrogen 78.03, oxygen 20.99, 
argon 0.94, carbon dioxide 0.03, hydrogen 0.01, 
neon,, 0.0015 and helium 0.00015 parts and sub- 
ject to rapid and continual changes in tem- 
perature, largely conditions precipitation over 
the earth, itself, owing to its varying topog- 
raphy, one of the controlling factors in the 
problem. The vast expanse of oceans, seas, 
gulfs and inland waters and the uplift and ex- 
tent of its various mountain ranges and the 
expanse and location of its continents in their 
relation to oceans and to the torrid, temperate 
and frigid zones, together with the rotation of 
the earth on its axis and its revolution 
around the sun, produce different atmospheric 
conditions, conducive to great variation in pre- 
cipitation. Furthermore the atmosphere rapidly 
decreases in density upwards from the surface 
of the earth and solar radiation likewise de- 
creases in its intensity. The sun's rays pene- 
trate the atmosphere at various angles and these 
are continually changing so that the amount 
of radiant energy is neither constant nor uni- 
form in the different latitudes and seasons. 
Owing to these physical conditions and the 
inclination of the earth's axis to the plane of 
the ecliptic, producing unequal day and night 
in the four seasons, there are ceaseless^ move- 
ments in the atmosphere itself, such as currents, 
winds and storms, that affect its humidity and 
the amount of rainfall. Both terrestrial and 
solar disturbances affect the atmosphere and 
the amount of rainfall. In some localities 
periodic winds prevail with such constancy that 
they are denominated by such terms as <( trade 
winds,* (( monsoons,* (( land and sea breezes* 
and some ocean currents are no less constant. 
All these and other physical phenomena must 
be considered in accounting for precipitation 
and its variation in different localities. 

Evaporation is the physical transformation 
of solids and liquids into gases, due to the 
kinetic energy of their molecules to diffuse 
themselves through space. Heat increases that 



energy of the molecules of water in whatever 
form it may be, though the coefficient of dif- 
fusion for aqueous vapor is greatest at the 
earth's surface. Professor Cleveland Abbe of 
the United States Weather Bureau has said 
that (< the vapor constituent of the atmosphere 
is not distributed according to the law of 
gaseous diffusion, but like temperature and the 
ratio between oxygen and nitrogen, is controlled 
by other laws, prescribed by the winds and 
currents, namely — convection.* That may be 
either horizontal, due to the winds, or vertical, 
due to upward or downward currents. Tem- 
perature is also one of the most important 
factors in the problem of evaporation and in 
the distribution of aqueous vapors. Atmos- 
pheric pressure is another important factor in 
the problem. Atmospheric gases retard the dif- 
fusion of aqueous gases and act independently 
of each other. Professor Adolph F. Meyer of 
the University of Minnesota states that (( water 
in the gaseous state has a specific gravity of .622, 
as compared with dry air,* and that (( the pres- 
sure of water vapor at a given temperature is 
greater than the pressure of an equal amount 
of dry air at the same temperature,* so that 
when dry air is displaced in part by aqueous 
vapor, the weight of the cubic content is 
reduced. Professor Meyer maintains that when 
water at 212° F. passes into a gaseous state, it 
increases in volume 1,658 times and stores up 
970 British thermal units of heat for each 
pound of water so transformed. The United 
States Weather Bureau gives the elastic pres- 
sure of saturated vapor at 32° F. as 0.180 of 
an inch of barometric pressure, at 68° F. as 
0.684 of an inch of barometric pressure, at 
100° F. as 1.916 inches of barometric pressure 
and at 110° F. as 2.576 inches of barometric 
pressure. It thus appears that vapor pressure in- 
creases much more rapidly than does tempera- 
ture. Professor Meyer also states that (( at 
ordinary open air temperatures, the elas- 
tic pressure 8 (also known as <( vapor ten- 
sion* and (( gaseous pressure*) (( of saturated 
water vapor is substantially doubled for 
every 20° F. increase in temperature,* and 
(( at a given temperature and pressure only 
a certain definite amount of water can oc- 
cupy a given space and as soon as the space 
is saturated with moisture, dew will be de- 
posited.* Then heat is liberated, which tends 
to retard a further fall in the temperature. The 
higher the temperature at sea-level, the greater 
may be the amount of aqueous vapor and stored- 
up heat and the slower will be the condensation 
and cooling. In the heat of summer, the air 
rises, expands, cools and as it does so, it loses 
its capacity to hold vapor and condensation 
may ensue. Professor Meyer says that ft If the 
temperature of the vapor is 68° F. it will cool 
1° in rising 425 feet.* The heat so liberated 
warms the surrounding atmosphere and tends to 
prevent further condensation, so summer 
showers are often of short duration. 

The atmospheric pressure at the level of the 
sea is 14.7 pounds per square inch, which is 
equivalent to a column of pure water at 39.2° 
F. 34 feet in height. That pressure decreases 
one pound for the first 1,880 feet, and two 
pounds for the first 3,900 feet, and three pounds 
for the first 6,080 feet above the level of the 
sea, and so on until it becomes negligible. The 
United States Weather Bureau has compiled 



athor 



RAINFALL 



187 



statistics giving the weight of a cubic foot of 
aqueous vapor of different percentages of 
saturation and at various temperatures at the 
level of the sea. At 32° F. a cubic foot of 
aqueous vapor ranges from .211 grains with 
10 per cent saturation to 2.113 grains with 100 
per cent saturation. At 68° F. a cubic foot of 
aqueous vapor ranges from .748 grains with 10 
per cent saturation to 7.480 grains with 100 
per cent saturation. At 100° F. a cubic foot of 
aqueous vapor ranges from 1.977 grains with 
10 per cent saturation to 19.766 grains with 100 
per cent saturation. At 110° F. a cubic foot of 
aqueous vapor ranges from 2.611 grains with 
10 per cent saturation to 26.112 grains with 100 
per cent saturation. Vapor is saturated, when 
it is at the point of condensation and evapora- 
tion goes on as long as there is any deficit be- 
low 100 per cent of such saturation. From the 
foregoing meteorological compilation, it will ap- 
pear that the point of saturation and weight 
of aqueous vapors per cubic foot vary greatly 
at different temperatures. The matter under 
this sub-title is involved in the problems of 
Water Supply and will receive further con- 
sideration under that title in a succeeding 
volume of this encyclopedia. 

Controlling Factors in Rainfall. — At sea- 
level in the tropics over such large bodies of 
water as the Indian Ocean, the amount of 
aqueous vapor moving vertically upward may 
exceed the quantity in a column of air over 
the Arabian and Sahara deserts. Still the 
vapor contents of the air over Siberian and 
Lybian deserts average nearly as much as that 
of the air over Vienna and Paris. The heat 
prevents its condensation. Were it cooled, it 
would produce normal rainfall. Humidity is 
the amount of aqueous vapor in the atmosphere, 
as compared with the amount of such aqueous 
vapor in it, when the atmosphere at a given 
temperature is 100 per cent saturated. Hu- 
midity, therefore, is relative and in some zones 
and localities it varies inversely, as the tem- 
perature, especially where there may be a 
lack of moisture as there is east of the Rocky 
Mountains and over the desert regions of the 
earth. When water is vaporized, pressure is 
exerted on atmospheric gases. Thus both verti- 
cal or convective currents may be generated, 
clouds may be formed and heavy rainfall may 
ensue, as a result of the cooling of the satu- 
rated water vapor in the upper strata of the 
atmosphere. The heat, liberated in the cooling 
process, retards the condensation and checks 
the rainfall. A rising barometer indicates the 
absence of vapor pressure, the expansion of 
dry air, slight evaporation and no rainfall. 
Humidity, temperature, topography and the 
physical phenomena already mentioned are fac- 
tors more or less controlling, in the problem of 
rainfall over a given territory. There are others, 
such as the contour of the territory, its ele- 
vation above the level of the sea, the extent 
of its forests, the configuration of its mountains, 
the influence of continents upon humidity and 
character of its seasons. Notwithstanding the 
complexity of the phenomena, conditioning rain- 
fall or precipitation, the same has been observed 
over long periods and reduced to mean annual 
tabulations. There have also been deduced 
formulae to ascertain the presence and amount 
of evaporation, which, to slight extent only, 



indicates the amount of rainfall or precipitation, 
for the former may be both a contributing cause 
and one of the results of the latter. Dalton, Bige- 
low, Russell, Meyer and others have proposed 
evaporation formulae to determine evaporation 
under various conditions of humidity, tempera- 
ture^ wind velocity, vapor tension and baro- 
metric pressure. The results obtained from 
the application of such formulae are not identi- 
cal, nor do they always conform to actual 
measurements, which are difficult to make. 

The United States Weather Bureau and 
the climatological stations of some other na- 
tions have compiled statistical tables of evapo- 
ration over various land and inland water 
areas, but not over oceans, seas and gulls, which 
altogether cover three-fourths of the surface 
of the earth. From all such bodies of water 
evaporation is continuous and the greatest. 
These great fountains of the deep supply the 
vapor-laden clouds, which are swept landward 
and release their waters in refreshing rains, 
wintry snows or in some other form of precipi- 
tation. Frequently such vapor-bearing clouds 
are swept against mountain ranges, as those 
rising from the Mediterranean Sea are swept 
against the Alps and those rising from the 
Pacific Ocean against the Andes Mountains. 
In some regions precipitation is much greater 
than it is in others, and over the same region 
it varies greatly in different years. That is 
due to the operation and effect of the physical 
conditions already stated. However, over cy- 
cles of years it is quite uniform, as will here- 
inafter appear. Deforestation decreases and 
reforestation increases the general average. 
Forests promote rainfall, retard evaporation 
and run off and store up precipitation in pools, 
ponds and lakes, some of which are the sources 
of streams and rivers. The United States and 
many other nations have bureaus, or depart- 
ments devoted to scientific forestry, one of 
the most important and necessary functions of 
government, if the habitable areas of the earth 
are to be preserved. Deforestation and conse- 
quent lack of rainfall have rendered many 
once populous areas now uninhabitable, as in- 
dicated in this article. This and other genera- 
tions ought not to neglect a matter of such 
vital importance to themselves and to succeed- 
ing generations, but ought to enter upon the 
systematic reforestation of all properly avail- 
able areas. 

Regional Precipitation.— The amount of 
precipitation, over many portions of the habi- 
table earth, has been observed for long periods 
substantially as follows : In the polar regions 
there is no rainfall. Precipitation there is con- 
gealed in snow and icy particles. In the tropics 
there is little snow except on the highest moun- 
tains and most precipitation is in the form of 
rain. In the upper latitudes of the temperate 
zones there are both rain and snow. Over the 
Sahara, Arabia and other desert regions and 
in the desert regions in Australia and South 
America there is but little precipitation, while 
along _ windward coastal regions the annual 
precipitation is abundant, as found along the 
Atlantic and other continental coasts facing 
eastward. Usually those sides of mountain 
ranges that face oceans, or large bodies of 
water, have a much larger rainfall than do the 
opposite sides, which face inland areas. There 



188 



RAINFALL 



is more rainfall on the slopes of the Sierra 
and Coast ranges where many glacial lakes 
and ponds exist in the ranges themselves, such 
as Tahoe, Clear Lake and others, than there is 
rainfall on their eastern slopes. East of some 
of these and of the Rocky Mountains the 
annual precipitation is light and large desert 
areas had existed, but for irrigation. No one 
law has been deduced from all these varied phe- 
nomena, affecting precipitation over all parts 
of the habitable globe to determine its amount. 
Much data has been collated from actual meas- 
urements. Some of these will indicate the 
amount of precipitation in those regions and at 
various altitudes. 

E. S. Bellasis, sometime engineer of the Pub- 
lic Work in India, in substance stated that 
C( the rainfall in India varied from 2 or 3 
inches in Scinde to 450 inches at Cherrapunji 
in the eastern Himalayas and that at two sta- 
tions in the Bombay hills, only 10 miles apart, 
the annual rainfall were respectively 300 inches 
and 50 inches and that in England at Hem- 
stanton, it was about 20 inches, while at Seath- 
waite it was about 200 inches. );> He stated that 
(( the annual rainfall at Mercara in South India 
was 119 inches, in King William's Town in 
Cape Colony 27 inches, at Melbury Moor, in 
England 50.7 inches, at Newport in the Isle of 
Wight 32 inches, in the basin of the Cataract 
River in New South Wales from 33.7 inches, 
in 1896, to 56.4 inches, in 1898 in the basin 
of the Nepean River in New South Wales 44.3 
inches and in 1905 in the valley of Sudbury, 
Mass., 42.3 inches." 

The water supply of a country is largely 
conditioned upon its water resources and the 
latter are dependent to a large extent upon its 
rainfall, or rather precipitation, which includes 
rain, hail, sleet and snow. The amount of 
annual precipitation over a given territory in 
successive }^ears i s not constant, nor is it uni- 
formly distributed, except over a few such 
States as Wisconsin and Michigan, and over 
some foreign limited districts. . 

The annual precipitation in the State of 
Washington ranges from 12 to 120 inches in 
different localities, though in Seattle for a 
period of 19 years it averaged 38.8 inches. 
In different parts of Oregon it ranged from 
8 to 138 inches and in Texas from 9.3 inches 
at Pasco to 48.2 inches at Houston. Nor is 
the annual precipitation over a locality constant 
from year to year. The Weather Bureau's 
report shows that the precipitation at Dodge 
City, Kan., has ranged from 9.9 to 33.7 inches. 
There are dry and wet years as there are dry 
and wet seasons. In the drought of 1894 and 
1895, the deficiency in precipitation measured in 
the upper Mississippi Valley from 7.8 to 12 
inches, in New England from 5.3 to 8.1 inches 
and in the south Pacific watershed from 4.4 
to 4.6 inches. In three months of 1905, there 
was an excess of 2 inches in the rainfall at 
Yuma over its mean annual precipitation. In 
1900, the rainfall at Bay Saint Louis, Miss., was 
101.5 inches which was an excess of about 50 
inches over normal precipitation for the Slate. 
The difference between the maximum and mini- 
mum rainfall on the Croton watershed (New 
York) in a period of 43 years was 26.8 inches 
and in Pittsburgh (Pa.) that difference was 
25.3 inches in a period of 71 years. 



Mean Annual Precipitation in the United 
States and Canada.— The United States main- 
tains several hundred observation stations in 
addition to those maintained by the States them- 
selves and by individual and corporate enter- 
prise, where meteorological and climatological 
observations are made and for half a century 
have been made and records kept of the annual 
precipitation at those stations. From all such 
official and authentic observations and the com- 
putations made therefrom, climatological tables 
have been compiled, showing in most cases over 
periods of years the mean annual precipitation 
at scores of stations in the United States. 
Foreign countries have made similar observa- 
tions and records. In nearly all of the tables, 
the measurements are the resultant of many 
observations and are denominated (( the mean 
annual precipitation. )} 

From such official and from other well-au- 
thenticated measurements, the writer has se- 
lected some and averaged others from approved 
records to ascertain and state the mean annual 
precipitation over the United States and Canada. 
The following represent the mean annual pre- 
cipitation over the localities mentioned, or they 
are aggregated from a number of stations over 
large areas, showing such precipitation. Many 
of these are from the reports of the United 
States Weather Bureau, extending over a num- 
ber of years and others from authentic data. 
The mean annual precipitation in the coastal 
region of Alaska varies from 60 to 110 inches. 

United States.— The greatest annual pre- 
cipitation in the United States is over the west- 
ern slopes of the mountains forming the Con- 
tinental Divide which intercept the vapor-laden 
clouds from the Pacific and precipitate their 
moisture in some localities to an average of 
70 to 135 inches. 

Alabama. — The United States Weather 
Bureau gives the mean annual precipitation, as 
measured at 15 stations, as 52 inches, at Mont- 
gomery it is 5Q.8 inches and at Mobile 62.1 
inches. 

Arizona. — Along the Colorado it is less 
than 3 inches, at Phoenix 7.4 inches, at Fort 
Grant 15 inches and at Flagstaff 22 inches. 

Arkansas. — It averages 46.7 inches, being 
49.6 inches at Little Rock, 55.2 inches at Helena 
and 41.8 inches at Fort Smith. 

California. — It ranges from 32.2 inches 
over the Sacramento watershed to 10.2 inches 
at San Diego. Professor Meyer states that it 
averaged 9.6 inches at San Diego for a period 
of 65 years. At Berkeley it is 26.47 inches, 
at San Francisco 23 inches and at Los Angeles 

17.6 inches. 

Colorado. — It is variable. At Denver it is 

14.7 inches, at Pueblo 11.6 inches, at Orchard 
17 inches and at Long's Peak 16.7 inches. In 
other sections it varies from 7.01 to 26 inches 
and over Colorado River watershed it is 17.7 
inches. 

Connecticut. — At Hartford it was 44.50 
inches, at New Haven 47.2 inches, at New Lon- 
don 48.08 inches and at Waterbury 49.9 inches. 

Delaware. — At Millsboro it was 47.3 inches. 

Florida. — There is annual precipitation over 
the State as determined at 13 stations of 54.53 
inches. At Tampa it is 53.1 inches, at Key 
West 37.9 inches, at Miami 58.3 inches and at 
Jacksonville 53.4. 



RAINFALL 



189 



Georgia.— The United States Weather Bu- 
reau reported in 1906 that the annual precipita- 
tion in the northeastern part of the State was 
54.1 inches, in middle Georgia 49 inches, in 
southeastern Georgia 50.7 inches, at Atlanta, 
for a period of years, it averaged 49.2 inches, 
at Savannah 48.67 inches and at Clayton 68.5 
inches. 

Idaho. — It varies from 6.3 to 40.4 inches, 
but in most sections it ranges from 12 to 13 
inches. 

Illinois. — It averages 36.5 inches. At 
Chicago for 40 years it averaged 33.5 inches. 
At Springfield it is 37.4 'inches and at Cairo 
41.6 inches. 

Indiana. — The mean annual precipitation 
over the State is 38.4 inches. At South Bend 
it is 34.5 inches, at Indianapolis 41.9 inches and 
at Marion 37 inches. 

Iowa. — From the measurements at 46 sta- 
tions scattered over the State, the United States 
Weather Bureau reported the mean annual 
precipitation over the State to be 31.5 inches, 
at Keokuk it was 35.1 inches and at Sioux City 
25.8 inches, at Iowa City in 1890, it was 58 
inches. 

Kansas. — Measured at 19 stations, it aver- 
aged 27.3 inches, at Garden City it was 19.6 
inches, at Wichita 30.4 inches, at Atchison 37.1 
inches and at Topeka 34.1 inches. 

Kentucky. — At 10 stations ft ranged from 

42.5 inches at Lexington to 50.3 inches at Wib- 
blesboro. At Louisville it is 44.5 inches. 

Louisiana. — There is great variation in the 
yearly rainfall. In New Orleans the annual 
rainfall has been as low as 31 inches and as high 
as 85.6 inches. For 67 years it averaged 
56.1 inches. It ranges there from 55.4 to 

62.6 inches and over the State from 46 inches 
over the southern stations to 55 inches over the 
eastern. 

Maine. — At Portland it was 42.8 inches, 
at Lewiston 46.2 inches, at Eastport 43.4 inches, 
at Bar Harbor 48.9 inches, at Mayfield 52 
inches. 

Maryland and Delaware. — The annual 
precipitation ranges from about 44 inches in the 
former to 47.3 inches in the latter. At Balti- 
more it was 43.4 inches, at Washington and Dis- 
trict of Columbia 43.1 inches, in the valley of 
the Potomac 35.28 inches. Other unofficial 
records give annual precipitation at Baltimore 
as 40.7 inches, at Washington as 40.7 inches 
and in the District of Columbia at 38.77 inches. 

Massachusetts. — At Boston it ranged 
from 43.7 to 45.3 inches, at New Bedford from 
46.4 to 47.9 inches, at Blue Hill Meteorological 
Observatory 47.2 inches, at Williamstown 39.41 
inches, at Lawrence 43.1 inches, at Fitchburg 
45.4 inches, at Amherst 46.3 inches, at Nan- 
tucket 36.5 inches, over the Wachusett water- 
shed 47.1 inches and over the Sudbury water- 
shed 45.3 inches. 

Michigan. — It averages 32.91 inches and is 
similarly distributed. At Detroit it has aver- 
aged 32.1 inches over a period of 40 years. 

Minnesota. — It averages 26 inches, while 
at Duluth it is 29.5 inches, at Saint Paul 28.68 
inches, over the Crow Wing Valley 30.81 
inches and over Croix Valley 32.58 inches. 
Professor Meyer gives the mean annual rain- 
fall at Saint Paul for a period of 78 years at 
27.3 inches. 



Mississippi. — The mean annual precipitation 
is about 50 inches. In the Yazoo Valley it is 
48 inches, at Natches 50 inches and at Vicks- 
burg 53.8 inches. Over the Tombigbee water- 
shed for a period of 50 years it has averaged 
49.2 inches. 

Missouri. — It ranges from 34 inches in the 
northwestern counties to 46 inches in the south- 
eastern counties. It averages 39.9 inches at 
Saint Louis. The general average over the 
State is 39 inches. 

Montana. — It ranges from 11.8 to 18.5 
inches. At Kipp it is 18.5 inches, at Glendive 
15.9 inches, at Butte 12.2 inches and at Great 
Falls on the Missouri 13.4 inches and at Havre 
13.5 inches. 

Nebraska. — As determined at 6 to 12 sta- 
tions it averaged 23.5 inches and was principally 
in rain. At Omaha it was 30.8 inches, at Lin- 
coln 27.7 inches and at North Platte 17.9 inches. 

Nevada. — It ranges from 10.8 inches at Car- 
son City to 11.2 inches at Pioche, but varies in 
most parts of the State from 3 to 12 inches. At 
Reno it measures 7.52 inches. 

New Hampshire. — At Bethlehem it was 37.7 
inches, at Plymouth 42.4 inches, at Concord and 
at Keene 40.4 inches and at Nashua 43 inches. 

New Jersey. — The annual precipitation is 
47.7 inches over the State. At Dover it is 51.2 
inches, at Asbury Park 48.1 inches and at At- 
lantic City 42 inches. Over the Pequannock 
watershed it is 50.1 inches and over the Hacken- 
sack River 46.15 inches. 

New Mexico — It varies from 7.2 to 15.8 
inches, though there it has had a precipitation 
of 25 inches. At Sante Fe' it is 14.2 inches. 
There is slight snowfall, though the State's high- 
est peaks in the north are snow-capped much 
of the time, and those snows are its principal 
sources of water supply. Similar conditions 
prevail in some of the Rocky Mountain States, 
affording their principal water supply. 

New York. — The mean annual precipitation 
at the United States Weather Bureau stations 
over the State for 25 years averaged 39.26 
inches. Over Suffolk County it averages 45 
inches. Over Long Island for 67 years it has 
averaged 42.56 inches, at New York City 42.87 
inches, over the lower Hudson 44.93 inches, at 
the Croton Dam from 44.93 to 50.38 inches, 
over the Esopus watershed 46.6 inches, at Ox- 
ford 45.4 inches, at Albany 34.84 inches, at Little 
Falls 54 inches, at Utica 42.29 inches, at Bing- 
hamton 36.98 inches, at Elmira 33.23 inches, at 
Mount Hope 27.77 inches, at Ithaca 33.97 inches, 
at Cortland 44.7 inches, at Rochester 33.61 in- 
ches, at Buffalo 36.71 inches, at Oswego 36.57 
inches, at Ogdensburgh 30.7 inches, at North 
Lake 55.7 inches and over northeastern New 
York 38.97 inches. Over the Taconic quad- 
rangle it is 42 inches. 

North Carolina. — The resultant of meas- 
urements at 23 stations was 52 inches. In the 
western counties occasionally it ranges from 
70 to 100 inches, thereby becoming known as a 
region of extraordinary rainfall. 

North Dakota. — The mean annual precipi- 
tation is from 17 to 18 inches over the State. 
At Bismark it is 18.8 inches. High winds blow 
away much of the snows of winter. 

Ohio. — This State has an annual precipita- 
tion of 38.4 inches, varying from 30.8 inches at 
Toledo to 42.1 inches at Marietta. At Ports- 



190 



RAINFALL 



mouth it averages 41.1 inches. Over the 
Ohio River during a long period it varies from 
32.07 to 45.79 inches and over the Muskingum 
watershed it averages 40 inches. A.t Cleveland 
it is 35.6 inches, at Columbus 37.2 inches and at 
Cincinnati from 38.4 to 45 inches. Professor 
Meyer states that ft averaged there 40.7 inches 
for a period of 80 years. 

Oklahoma. — It was computed by the United 
States Weather Bureau from the measurements 
of 10 stations and found to average 31.7 inches, 
with great variations in succeeding seasons and 
different years. 

Oregon. — It ranges from 8 to 138 inches 
and at Portland it ranges from 45.9 to 78.2 
inches. At Astoria it is 77.2 inches. 

Pennsylvania. — The resultant of the meas- 
urements of 16 stations is approximately 44 
inches. At Erie it is 39.2 inches, at Pittsburgh 
36.4 inches, at Harrisburgh 38.1 inches, at York 
41.9 inches, at Mauch Chunk 50.5 inches and at 
Philadelphia 40.6 inches. 

Rhode Island. — At Providence it was 44.6 
inches, but by the records for 79 years it aver- 
aged 45 inches. At Narragansett Pier it was 
47.4 inches and at Rock Island 45.3 inches. 

South Carolina. — It was estimated from 
measurements at 12 stations to be 49 inches. 
Monthly rainfalls in some localities and years 
have equalled 12 inches for a short period. 

South Dakota. — It averages 20.3 inches, but 
only 1 to 2 inches fall in the form of snow. 

Tennessee. — It averages over the State as 
measured at 18 stations about 50 inches, includ- 
ing 8 inches of snow. At Nashville it is 48.5 
inches, at Memphis 50.8 and at Chattanooga 51.6 
inches. 

Texas. — The mean annual precipitation 
averages 30.9 inches over the entire State as 
determined at 19 stations, varying from 9.3 
inches at Pasco to 48.2 inches at Houston. At 
Port Davis for 46 years it was 18 inches. At 
El Paso for 36 years it averaged 9.6 inches. 

Utah. — It averages 11 inches, ranging from 
6.1 inches at Saint George to 16.2 inches at 
Salt Lake, which is mostly snow. 

Vermont. — 'At Burlington 33.3 inches, at 
Rutland 36.54 inches, at Saint Johnsbury 35.6 
inches, at Northfield 33.1 inches, at Woodstock 
37.3 inches and at Jacksonville 50.3 inches. 

Virginia. — It averaged from the measure- 
ments of 15 stations from 39.4 inches at War- 
saw and Blacksbury to 50.5 inches at Big Stone 
Gap. At Rutland it measured 43.6 inches, at 
Fort Republic 38.77 inches, at Roanoke 39.09 
inches and at Norfolk 50 inches. 

Washington. — In the northwestern part it 
ranges from 12 to 120 inches, and between the 
Olympics and Cascade mountains it ranges from 
25 to 60 inches. At Seattle for 19 years it 
averaged 38.8 inches. 

West Virginia. — There are 14 stations dis- 
tributed over the State and the average of their 
measurements is 42.48 inches. Over the high 
plateaus the annual precipitation ranges from 
45 to 50 inches, while over the lower levels 
along some rivers it ranges from 35 to 40 
inches. Over the Grecnbriar it is 44.48 inches. 

Wisconsin. — The mean annual precipitation 
is 31.5 inches and is uniformly distributed over 
the State; at Milwaukee it is 31 inches. 

Wyoming. — It averages 13 inches, ranging 



from 8 inches in some places to 20 inches in the 
Yellowstone Park. 

Along the Appalachian altitudes from New 
York to the Gulf of Mexico there is a greater 
precipitation than there is at lower levels along 
the Atlantic Coast. From the United States 
Weather Bureau reports of the mean annual 
precipitation, measured at several stations in 
each New England State over a period of years, 
it appears that it averaged in Maine 44.6 inches, 
in New Hampshire 40.6 inches, in Vermont 38.2 
inches, in Massachusetts 44.6 inches, in Rhode 
Island 49 inches and in Connecticut 47.2 inches. 

Canada. — In Canada it varies in the western, 
central and eastern provinces as it does in the 
United States. At Victoria it averaged 37.77 
inches, at Port Simpson 94.63 inches, at Regina 
9.03 inches, at Prince Albert 14.45 inches, at 
Winnepeg 19.53 inches, at Port Arthur 23.58 
inches, at Toronto 33.94 inches, in Quebec 28.76 
to 41.5 inches, in New Brunswick 32.6 inches 
with 97.5 inches of snow, in Nova Scotia 39.6 
inches and 77.5 inches of snow. 

Latin America. — In other countries of the 
western hemisphere records of precipitation are 
meagre. However, the unofficial reports indicate 
that the annual precipitation is abundant for the 
water supply of all the principal cities whether 
or not they be located on lakes, rivers and other 
fresh waters. In Mexico, at Vera Cruz, it meas- 
ured 183 inches as maximum rainfall. In Cen- 
tral America precipitation varies greatly in 
different sections. Rainfall in the latter ranges 
from 50 to 200 inches annually. In Cuba at 
Havana it ranges from 40 to 80 inches. There 
is a great variation of precipitation in South 
America owing to its physical formation with 
the lofty Andes extending along its entire west- 
ern border and their many lateral ranges, its 
high arid plateaus and swampy regions, its vast 
area extending from 12° north latitude across 
the equator to 55° south latitude and from 
35° to 82° west longitude, its tropical heat over 
most of it and its wintry climate in some other 
localities and its general location with reference 
to the Caribbean Sea, the Atlantic and Pacific 
oceans. The climate is as variable as all such 
physical conditions can produce. Generally 
speaking, the precipitation is not only abundant 
for its water supply in most of its coastal re- 
gions, but over some areas it is excessive. Over 
its interior elevated districts it is slight and 
great desert regions exist in Brazil, Bolivia, 
Peru, Argentina and Patagonia, where there is 
but little precipitation. The annual precipitation 
at Bogota is 44 inches, along the coast 73 
inches, at Caracas from 24 to 34 inches, at Val- 
divia 108 to 115 inches, in Uruguay 43 inches, 
in Argentina from 2 to 63 inches and in Pata- 
gonia from 19 to 97 inches. In many parts of 
Brazil there is heavy rainfall and in other 
mountain sections there are heavy snowstorms. 
At Rio de Janeiro it is from 43 to 59 inches, 
at Blumenau 53 inches and at Ceara 60 inches. 
The precipitation is abundant in most of the 
Western States, where high mountains intercept 
the vapor-laden winds from the Pacific. There 
are many large lakes high above sea-level, one 
of them being Lake Titicaca, with an area of 
5,000 square miles, 12,545 feet above the sea. 
It falls in rain and snow and not only waters 
vast areas but supplies the headwaters of the 
Amazon and other great rivers. 



RAINFALL 



191 



Europe. — In Europe a few measurements 
will illustrate the mean annual precipitation. 
In England the annual precipitation varies from 
25 inches or less at the mouth of the Thames 
to 60 inches in the lake district and in a part 
of Wales, while in other districts it is 40 inches. 
In the western counties of England near high 
hills it ranges from 80 to 150 inches, while in 
other sections it averages from 30 to 45 inches. 
In the eastern counties it ranges from 20 to 28 
inches. The mean annual rainfall on the 
Vyrnwy watershed is 65.16 inches. At Litton in 
Bristol watershed for 58 years it averaged 41.1 
inches and at Bristol 30.9 inches. Over the 
Thames area for 21 years it averaged 26.9 
inches. Over Derwent Valley it varies from 
35 inches in the south to 61 inches in the north. 
Over the Sheffield waterworks catchment areas 
precipitation averaged about 47 inches. The 
average rainfall over the whole of England is 
about 30 inches. 

In the west of Scotland it ranges from 
39.37 to 100 inches while in the eastern counties 
it is only 26 inches. At Ben Nevis it is 151 
inches. Over Edinburgh district waterworks 
for 6 years precipitation averaged about 48 
inches. Over the headwaters of the Usk, Wye 
and Towy rivers in Wales rainfall ranges from 
45 to 75 inches per annum. In Ireland there is 
heavy precipitation near the high hills in the 
west though less than in the Highlands of 
Scotland. Its general average is more than it 
is in the eastern districts of England. Over 
the valley of the river Vartry the annual rain- 
fall averages 48.82 inches. In Norway the 
annual precipitation varies from 12 inches at 
Dovre Fjeld to 83 inches between Bukken Fjord 
and Nordfjord. At Bergen it ranges from 73 
to 89 inches. In Sweden the annual rainfall 
ranges from 12.32 inches at Karesuando to 45.82 
inches at Cattegat. In Denmark the annual 
precipitation ranges from 21.58 to 27.87 inches. 
In Holland it averages 27.99 inches. At Utrecht 
it is 27.5 inches and at Tilburg it is 27.6 inches. 
At Amsterdam and The Hague it averages 27 
inches. In Belgium the precipitation is approxi- 
mately 28 inches. At Brussels it is 27.6 inches. 
The annual precipitation in France averages 
about 32 inches. For many years it averaged 
at Marseilles 20.75 inches and at Nantes 35 
inches. Over the Rhone it ranges from 20 to 
63 inches, averaging 36.32 inches. Over the 
Meuse it is 28.33 inches, over Yonne 30.80 
inches, and over the Seine 22.7 inches. In the 
south of France precipitation is less tljan it is 
along the Atlantic Coast. In Switzerland the 
annual precipitation has been 21.7 inches, at 
Sierre, 32.7 inches, at Geneva, 36.6 inches, at 
Berne, 42.6 inches, at Montreux, 48.7 inches, on 
the great Saint Bernard, 65.4 inches, at Lugano, 
87.3 inches, on San Bernardino Pass, 89.7 
inches of rain and snow in the Alps, facing 
north or south, thereby intercepting vapor- 
laden winds from the Arctic Ocean or from 
the Mediterranean Sea. In the valley of the 
Inn River it ranges from 22.43 to 57 inches. 
Scores of glaciers are found in the great ele- 
vated valleys of the Alps, and these feed the 
Rhine, the Rhone, the Po and the Inn rivers 
and their tributaries. The snows and glaciers 
cover the high ranges and intervening valleys, 
whose uplift resembles the foaming billowy 
ocean. At Saint Maria in the Alps the precipi- 



tation is 104.35 inches. In Germany it ranges 
from 20 to 34 inches. At Berlin it is 22.8 
inches. Over the Moselle it is 29.48 inches, over 
the Rhine 36.69 inches, over the Main from 16 
to 27.44 inches and over the Oder 24.60 inches. 
For 10 years it averaged 47.1 inches over the 
Mangfall Valley near Muhlthal. In Austria the 
annual precipitation ranges in various sections 
from 20.24 to 60 inches, and on the Dalmatian 
Coast it has been as high as 177 inches. At 
Vienna for 34 years it averaged 23.42 inches. 
In Hungary it averages 24 inches, at Budapest 
34.32 inches, at Zagrab 70.39 inches, at Fiume 
and over the mouth of the Danube it is 35.12 
inches. In Russia, where there are many moun- 
tains, high plateaus and extensive plains facing 
the Arctic Ocean, there is precipitation in the 
form of much snow, but not extensive rainfall. 
The average rainfall in Archangel is 16.2 inches, 
in Helsingfors, Finland, 19.6 inches, in Petro- 
grad 18.3 inches, in Dorpat 24.9 inches, in Mos- 
cow 23 inches, in Warsaw, Russia, 22.8 inches, 
in Odessa 15.6 inches, at Batum 93 inches, at 
Sochi 80 inches, in Poti 64.9 inches; while in 
Astrakhan it is only 5.7 inches and over the 
plains of Russia but 20 inches. In Portugal, 
whose westerly coast is exposed to the winds of 
the Atlantic, there are heavy fogs and precipi- 
tation in the north occasionally amounts to 192 
inches, while in the interior and in the south 
there is far less rainfall. In Spain rainfall aver- 
ages at Madrid 15 inches, at Salamanca 11.3 
inches, at San Fernando 30 inches, at Bilboa 
46 inches, at San Diego 66 inches, at Oviedo 
74 inches and over large areas there is but little 
precipitation and intense heat. Italy has moder- 
ate precipitation. The Alps in the north and its 
Apennines, extending nearly its entire length, 
intercept the vapor-laden winds of the Mediter- 
ranean and Adriatic seas. It projects southerly 
into warm latitudes and has a hot summer 
climate. Over it in the classic ages Jupiter 
Pluvius reigned from sea to sea. Precipitation 
varies from 36 inches in the north to 20 inches 
in the south of Italy. In Sicily it averages 15 
inches. Sunny Italy is characteristic of its 
central and southern sections, where there is 
infrequent and scanty rainfall in summer 
months. Over the Po the rainfall ranges from 
30 to 48 inches and snow in the north and mists 
along the coast are not uncommon. The pre- 
cipitation at Tolmezzo is 96 inches. In Lom- 
bardy precipitation averages 22 inches, and irri- 
gation canals are necessary to supply the lands 
with sufficient water for agricultural purposes. 
Nearly all Italian cities are supplied with water 
from rivers and mountain or ground sources. 
Aqueducts and infiltration tunnels through tufa 
without linings have long been in use to main- 
tain such supplies. Through such tunnels 22 
gallons per second are delivered at Mazzara and 
40 gallons per second at Zappulla in Sicily. 
Dr. Angot calculated the rainfall by months 
at Rome and found -the annual precipitation 
there to be 12.03 inches and at Milan to be 12.01 
inches. In Greece the annual precipitation 
ranges from 16.1 inches in Attica to 53.34 inches 
in the Ionian Isles. Olympian Zeus presided 
over atmospheric changes and his chief weapon 
was the thunderbolt. The Grecian states are 
well watered. In Bulgaria the mean annual 
precipitation is 29.59 inches. In Rumania rain- 
fall ranges from 15 to 20 inches. The water 



192 



RAINFALL 



supply of Constantinople is from streams, 
springs and rainfall in the forests where reser- 
voirs impound the waters that are conducted in 
aqueducts, one of which was built during the 
reign of Constantine. 

Several rainfall maps of Europe have been 
made and these may be consulted for further 
information on this subject. However, it 
may be stated that all western and northern 
Europe are abundantly supplied with copious 
rains and all the mountains with heavy falls of 
snow that supply the headquarters of its large 
rivers flowing to the salted seas on the north, 
west and south. They supply populous areas 
ip many parts of Europe. 

Africa. — In the continent of Africa pre- 
cipitation ranges from 1.5 inches in Egypt to 
20 inches on the southwestern coast and to 
heavy rainfall in its tropical areas. In Abys- 
sinia it ranges from 30 to 40 inches supplying 
some tributaries of the Nile. Along the south- 
eastern coast facing the Indian Ocean the rain- 
falls is 50 inches while in the interior of South 
Africa it ranges from 5 to 24 inches and at 
some places on the east coast it is only 40 
inches. At Johnannesburg, it averages 30 
inches, at Paarl and Weltevreden in Cape 
Colony it averaged for 14 years 34.67 to 35.97 
inches. The annual rainfall at Durban is 42.46 
inches and at East London, South Africa, it 
is 62.11 inches. Heavy fogs dampen some areas 
where there is but little rainfall. 

Asia. — In Arabia are great waterless deserts 
while in some mountain areas living springs of 
water are found. There is some rainfall in 
northern and central Arabia. At Dhala in 1892 
there was over 18 inches, while at Aden it 
averaged 2.97 inches. Sir A. Houtum-Schind- 
ler found the mean annual rainfall at Teheran 
for 15 years to average 9.86 inches and reported 
that at 15 stations in Persia for various years 
it ranged from 3.24 inches at Jask to 56.45 
inches at Resht. The average at all these sec- 
tions was about 17 inches. 

Asia presents so many physical formations 
of mountain ranges, elevated plateaus, great 
river basins, extensive arid regions, varying 
climates and oceanic influences as to cause ex- 
cessive precioitation of rain and snow in some 
great mountain areas and little in some other 
sections. Only a few measurements can be 
given. The mean annual precipitation over 
the Caspian watersheds is 7 to 8 inches, 
over the Aral Sea 6 inches, in western Syria 
facing the Mediterranean a moderate rainfall, 
at Beirut it is 21.66 inches, at Jerusalem, 36.22 
inches. The normal rainfall over Palestine is 
about 28 inches, while in the vicinity of the 
Lebanon range it is copious. There is very lit- 
tle rainfall east of Damascus and over eastern 
Syria. Between the Orontes and Euphrates 
some of the slight rainfall is caught and stored 
up for the water supply. The water of the 
springs in the vicinity of Mount Lebanon is 
conducted into cisterns and conserved for do- 
mestic and agricultural purposes. Hundreds of 
water-wheels, operated by the current of the 
Orontes, or by animal power lift its waters to 
supply communities along its banks and to irri- 
gate agricultural districts. Astride the Orontes 
120 miles north of Damascus is the land of 
Hamath, supplied by six or mOre great under- 
shot water-wheels, some 80 feet in diameter, 



that raise the water of the river into conduits 
extending through the city. Other sections are 
supplied with water drawn from wells by end- 
less ropes carrying buckets and operated by 
camels turning vertical spindles. Irrigation in 
its primitive form is practised in parts of Syria. 
The Romans also practised it about the Sea of 
Tiberias, where the remains of aqueducts may 
still be seen. The waters of the Abana rush- 
ing down over wheels placed in the falls of the 
Anti-Lebanon ranges develop power to propel 
the street cars of Damascus and to light that 
ancient city, which obtains its water supply 
through conduits from the same sources. In 
Asia Minor swept by the cool winds of the 
Black Sea there is much snow and there are 
occasional heavy rains. It has many springs 
fed by the underground flow produced by the 
melting snows of its high mountains. It has 
some lakes, whose waters are somewhat de- 
pleted during the long dry season. In 1912, 
Dutch engineers designed and French con- 
tractors constructed irrigation works to utilize 
the waters of Bey-Sjehir and Jaila lakes and 
a canal connecting with the Tsjartpjamba River 
to irrigate 126,000 acres of Konia Plain. 

Over the territory extending from the Jor- 
dan to the Persian Gulf there is slight rainfall 
and much of it is a desert uninhabited. 

In Siberia there is much snow and little 
rainfall. The latter ranges from 8 inches from 
Persia to Tobolsk and increases to 12 inches 
over Amur watersheds. Snow falls over vast 
areas in great quantities and in the mountains 
remains most of the year, feeding its lengthy 
rivers and its numberless lakes. Some of these, 
such as Baikal 400 miles long by 20 to 50 miles 
wide and Lake Kossogol 120 miles long by 50 
miles, cover great areas in a basin that was once 
a much longer lake. In eastern Siberia rain- 
fall averages from 15 to 20 inches. In Man- 
churia and northern China between the Volga 
and the Lena the rainfall ranges from 19 to 29 
inches. 

In China it ranges from 23 inches at Peking 
to 78 inches at Canton, which is swept 
by monsoons. It is only 5 to 7 inches in the 
north of Mongolia. In some coastal regions it 
amounts to 100 inches. Over the coastal re- 
gions of the Malay Peninsula the rainfall 
ranges from 75 to 200 inches and over places in 
Java it is 78 inches, at Singapore it is 97 
inches. Siam is occasionally swept bv monsoons 
and the rainfall ranges from 180 inches at 
Mergni to 240 inches at Monlmein. At some 
other places it averages from 42 to 54 inches. 

In India there is the greatest variation in 
precipitation in Asia. In its western coastal 
and Himalaya regions rainfall ranees from 75 
to 100 inches on the west to 250 inches at ele- 
vated localities, also in the west up to 610 inches 
in the Khasi Hills, where for a decade it aver- 
aged 550 inches. If entirely caught and con- 
served it would form a column of water 45 
feet high. At Cherrapunji for 40 vears it aver- 
aged 426 inches. At Calcutta it averaged 65 
inches. At Ceylon from 60 to 80 inches. At 
Madras 55 inches. At Bombay 75 inches and in 
the valley of the Ganges it falls to 25 inches 
and in that of the Indus to 6 inches. At Pooyah 
it is 24 inches. North of Punjab, it ranges 
from 70 to 80 inches and also that amount on 
some of the lateral spurs of the Himalayas. 



RAINIER 



193 



There are no available records of precipita- 
tion in countries to the north of India, but 
they are light, cold and covered with snows, 
which are their principal source of water supply. 
In Burma on the west coast it averages from 157 
to 196 inches. Over the Irrawadi Valley in 
Burma it is only 39.27 inches, but in the delta 
it averages 98.42 inches. In Japan the average 
rainfall over the whole country is 61.8 inches. 

Australasia and Oceanica. — In Australia 
rainfall varies greatly in different sections. At 
Brisbane it averages 50 inches, at other places 
70 inches. At Melbourne it averages 25.6 
inches, at Port Phillip from 20 to 30 inches, at 
Adelaide 20 inches and in some parts of the 
Eyre Peninsula only 10 inches and this average 
extends to more than Yz of the continent. 
In South Australia it averages from 8 to 10 
inches. In 1889 the Department of Mines at 
Sydney collated rainfall data_ and estimated the 
amount at 50 or more watering places in Aus- 
tralia. Those showed the weekly rainfall to 
range from T V of an inch in some localities to 
an inch in others and still others it ranged from 
2.25 to 3.10 inches. In most of the inhabited 
regions of New T Zealand, rainfall ranges from 
30 to 50 inches per annum. In New South 
Wales it ranges from 12 to 46 inches. At Hay 
it ranges from 10.94 to 25.84 inches. 

In the Philippines there is great variation in 
rainfall. At Manila it averages 76 inches and 
ranges from 16.2 to 152 inches over different 
islands. At Kauai, one of the Hawaiian islands, 
it averaged for 4 years 518 inches. On the 
island of Mauritius rainfall on the east coast 
has been as high as 141 inches and on the west 
coast at the same time it averaged only 27.95 
inches. 

In Java a rainfall ranges from 70 inches 
at Batavia to 174 inches at Buitenzorg. 

Except as otherwise stated, the foregoing 
are approximately the mean annual precipitation 
over the localities mentioned, as nearly as the 
measurements extending in most cases over a 
period of years disclosed. They furnish some 
data that may be considered in estimating such 
sources of their water supply. 

Robert Lauterberg, meteorologist of Switzer- 
land, once suggested that most measurements 
fail to give all the rainfall and that ordinary 
measurements must be increased 25 per cent to 
arrive at the actual precipitation. 

There are, however, many instances of well- 
known departures from the amounts heretofore 
given, when in wet years or cycles of years, or 
localities of excessive precipitation, the maxi- 
mum precipitation is greater than the mean an- 
nual precipitation. There are also dry years 
or cycles of years and dry localities, when the 
minimum precipitation is less than the mean 
annual precipitation. Such extremes are not 
constant, but may be considered in determining 
the hydrology of a given locality. 

m The foregoing records and measurements of 
rainfall are the mean annual precipitation over 
periods of years. Excessive precipitation, how- 
ever, occurs in storms, when the hourly and 
daily rates in the localities affected may be ex- 
traordinary. Such storms are usually of short 
duration and are confined to small areas. 
Records of some of such excessive precipitations 
and of monthly tabulations in localities, where 
meteorological stations are maintained, are ob- 
Vol. 23-13 



tainable from the reports of the weather bureaus 
of this and other countries. Most of such 
measurements are included in the general aver- 
ages of mean annual rainfall hereinbefore 
stated. 

Disposition of Precipitation. — The dispo- 
sition of rainfall or precipitation is quite fully 
considered in the article on "Water Supply, 8 
which is to follow under that title in a succeed- 
ing volume of this encyclopedia. 

Henry W. Hill, 
President of the New York State Waterways 
Association; author of ( Waterways and Canal 
Construction in the State of New York,* etc. 

RAINIER, ra'ner', Mount. An old volcanic 
cone in central western Washington named 
from Admiral Rainier of the British navy by 
Vancouver the navigator, who saw it from 
Puget Sound in 1793. It is also known by the 
Indian name of Tacoma Peak and rises about 
56 miles southwest of the city of Tacoma. Its 
altitude is 14,408_ feet or about 8,000 feet higher 
than the adjoining Cascade Mountain region. 
It was once thought to be the highest peak in 
the United States but Mount Whitney in Cali- 
fornia is 93 feet higher and a few peaks in the 
Rocky Mountains in Colorado exceed it 
slightly. Its upper part is mostly covered by 
snow and ice, the latter in 11 main glaciers 
radiating from the summit like the arms of a 
great starfish. The glaciers are from four to 
six miles long and equal in size and beauty 
those in the Alps. The larger one extends 
down to 4,000 feet. A luxuriant forest extends 
part way up the slopes, and the timber line is 
between 7,000 and 7,500 feet. Around the base 
are many natural meadows of most picturesque 
character with profusion of summer flowers. 
The peak, (< the noblest of the fire-mountains 
which, like beacons, once blazed along the Paci- 
fic Coast, 8 is the remains of a huge volcano 
built up of thick layers of lava and originally 
2,000 feet or more higher, its top having been 
blown off by a great explosion a few centuries 
ago. A large crater resulted from this erup- 
tion and several small cones and craters have 
since been built. The latest eruptions were 
slight ones in 1843, 1854, 1858 and 1870. Now 
the only activity is a slight emission of steam 
at one locality. The first ascent by a scientific 
observer was made by S. F. Emmons in 1870. 

In 1897 it was ascended and thoroughly ex- 
plored by a large party. (( Almost 250 feet 
higher than Mount Shasta, its nearest rival in 
grandeur and in mass, 8 they described it as 
(( overwhelmingly impressive both by the vast- 
ness of its snow-capped summit, its erlacial man- 
tle and by the striking sculpture of its cliffs. 8 
The total area of its glaciers amounts to 45 
square miles, an expanse of ice far exceeding 
that of any other single peak in the United 
States. The region now forms the fully pro- 
tected Mount Rainier National Park created by 
act of Congress approved 2 March 1899. Cen- 
tred by the towering mass of Mount Rainier, 
the park reserve is nearly a perfect square, the 
sides of which are 18 miles in length and con- 
tains 324 square miles, or sections of 640 acres 
each (207,360 acres). It is completely sur- 
rounded by lands embraced within the Rainier 
National Forest. Every year large numbers of 
tourists visit the park to camp in its meadows, 
and occasional ascents are made to the summit 



WATER SUPPLY 



39 



When water is made to flow through a layer 
of sodium permutit, the latter exchanges its 
soda for the calcium and magnesium salts of 
the water and the degree of hardness in the 
latter is reduced to zero. The permutit has to 
be regenerated as it grows lax in action. This 
is easily accomplished by washing it for a few 
hours with a solution of common salt. Man- 
ganese permutit in connection with marble dust 
removes all iron and acids from waters thus 
affected. 

The practice of softening the entire water 
supply of a municipality has grown steadily and 
in not a few large manufacturing cities the 
municipal softening plant is saving the citi- 
zens hundreds of thousands of tons of coal 
per annum and adding years of life to the 
community's boilers. The principal require- 
ments are (1) mixing chambers, in which the 
softening chemicals are thoroughly mixed with 
the water ; (2) capacious settling basins suffi- 
cient to give the necessary time for the slower 
leactions when the temperature is low, as in 
winter; (3) a device for adding a coagulant 
(alum or ferrous sulphate) at both the en- 
trance port and the exit port of the water into 
and from the settling basins ; (4) substantial 
mechanical filters. In addition, as one of the 
requisites should be a special apparatus to 
slake the lime, reduce it to a proper emulsion 
and feed it in proper quantity automatically 
into the flowing water. 

At the municipal water softening plant at 
Cleveland, Ohio, 150,000,000 gallons of water 
per day require the daily application of 40 tons 
of quicklime. This is slaked with hot water, 
mixed into an emulsion in an agitator, taken 
to tanks where it is cooled and diluted to the 
proper consistency and finally pumped at a 
uniform rate into the flowing water. 

In a recent report (1916) upon a water sup- 
ply for the city of Sacramento, Cal., the rel- 
ative hardness of the available waters was con- 
sidered in estimating the cost of the project. 
The engineers showed that while a supply of 
water from ground wells would be cheapest in 
initial outlay, that the water of the Sacra- 
mento River would be more economical for 
the consumers because of its lower degree of 
hardness ; the ultimate figures being $38.40 per 
1,000,000 gallons for the river wrter as against 
$42.40 per 1,000,000 gallons for well water. 
On the basis of the city's daily consumption 
of 30,000,000 gallons the saving in soap alone 
to the consumers amounted to $120 per day. 
Consult Booth, W. H., ( Water Softening and 
Treatment> (London 1906) ; Christie, W. W., 
( Water: Its Purification and Use in the In- 
dustries) (New York 1912) ; Whipple, G. C, 
( The Value of Pure Water) (New York 1907). 
C. Herschel Koyl, 
Consulting Engineer, New York. 

WATER SUPPLY: For Municipal, Do- 
mestic and Potable Purposes, Including Its 
Sources, Conservation, Purification and Dis- 
tribution. Introduction. — This article does not 
treat of water supply for navigation, irrigation 
or power development, but is confined princi- 
pally to the consideration of the sources, collec- 
tion, conservation, purification and distribution 
of water for municipal, domestic and potable 
purposes. This is becoming an increasingly en- 
grossing subject for all progressive communi- 



ties, since scientific research has shown that 
many natural waters are the media for the prop- 
agation and dissemination of countless colonies 
of micro-organisms of vegetative and animal 
growths, including bacteria, some of which are 
pathogenic. Some water bacteria have been 
localized and classified as shown by Prescott and 
Winslow in their ( Elements of Water Bacteri- 
ology.) Many other micro-organisms have also 
been localized and classified as shown by 
George C. Whipple in his < Microscopy of 
Drinking Water.) The nature and characteris- 
tics of some of these organisms must be studied 
in all water supply problems and therefore will 
be considered to some extent under some of the 
subtitles to follow. 

In 1857 Nagel suggested the name (( schizo- 
mycetes)) for all micro-organisms and that des- 
ignation is used by some bacteriologists for all 
such organisms. Botanists use that designation 
for vegetative organisms. <( Bacteria,)) however, 
is the name usually applied to living organisms 
in water. Many of these infest surface and 
ground waters. Neither lakes, rivers, ponds, 
nor wells are free from such micro-organisms. 
Not infrequently thousands of bacteria are 
found in a cubic centimeter of natural, which is 
usually denominated "raw 8 water. Dr. A. H. 
Hassall of London (1850) is reported to be the 
first to identify living organisms in drinking 
water. He was followed by E. N. Horsford, 
L. Radlkofer, Ferdinand J. Cohn, James 
Bell, L. Hirt, W. G. Farlow, Ira Remsen, 
H. C. Sorby, J. D. Hyatt, George W. Rafter, 
George C. Whipple and others. Dr. A. C. 
Houston of the London Metropolitan Board in 
1912 reported 10,315 microbes per centimeter of 
raw Thames water, although says Prof. William 
P. Mason (( it is now generally admitted that 
such a medium is not favorable to their growth. 8 
Dr. Houston found that they lived longer in 
deep Loch Katrine water, one of the sources 
of supply for Glasgow, than they did in the 
Thames. 

Dr. Robert Koch traced the cholera epidemic 
of 1892, in Hamburg, which did not prevail in 
Altona across the Elbe, to the contamination of 
its unfiltered raw river water supply by the 
cholera germ, spirillum cholerce Asiatics, or 
comma bacillus, discovered by Koch in 1884. 
Altona used filtered water from the Elbe and 
largely escaped that cholera epidemic. Since 
the discovery of. the specific cholera germ by 
Dr.* Koch, greater caution is exercised by munic- 
ipalities to prevent the contamination of their 
water supplies by the spirilla cholera; Asiaticcu, 
and cholera epidemics are less frequent. In 
1887 Messina, Sicily, had an epidemic of cholera 
due to polluted water. Typhoid epidemics have 
occurred more frequently than Asiatic cholera, 
for the typhoid bacilli (B. typhosi) are more 
generally distributed and the contamination of 
water supplies thereby has been not uncommon. 
George C. Whipple in ( The Microscopy of 
Drinking Water,) p. 80, says, (< A11 quiescent sur- 
face-waters are liable to contain microscopic 
organisms in considerable numbers. The water 
that is entirely free from them is very rare." 

From the ( Waterworks Handbook) of Flinn- 
Weston and Bogert and other publications are 
excerpted the following data as to bacterial con- 
tents of a few river waters per cubic centimeter. 



40 



WATER SUPPLY 



Bacteria in the Niagara vary from 10,000 to 
300,000 per cubic centimeter ; in the Seine from 
300per cubic centimeter above Paris to 200,000 
per cubic centimeter below Paris; in the Spree 
from 82,000 per cubic centimeter above Koepe- 
nick to 10,000,000 per cubic centimeter at Char- 
lottenburg; in the Ohio they averaged 16,500 
per cubic centimeter ; in the Delaware 7,680 per 
cubic centimeter; in Crystal Lake, Mass., 185 
per cubic centimeter ; in Lake Ontario 7,040 per 
cubic centimeter; in the Mississippi upwards of 
2,000 per cubic centimeter; in the Potomac up- 
wards of 4,000 per cubic centimeter and 
in the Merrimac upwards of 11,000 per cubic 
centimeter; in raw Thames water 10,315 
microbes per cubic centimeter; and in the Isar 
at Munich opposite an effluent of sewage 121,861 
per cubic centimeter. In some waters bac- 
teria have exceeded 200,000 per cubic 
centimeter. Nearly all surface waters have 
some bacterial content and in many cases the 
bacteria are pathogenic. Neither are all springs 
nor well waters entirely free from bacterial in- 
fusion. This may not be sufficient nor of the 
kind to pollute such waters for some genera are 
not pathogenic. However, it has been con- 
tended that some non-pathogenic bacteria may 
become pathogenic under favorable conditions. 
That is notably so in the caseof bacillus colt 
communis (B. coli), when nourished on sewage 
and on other typhoid waste. 

Ground waters, including wells, in some lo- 
calities are infested with crenothrix at the num- 
ber of 20,000 per cubic centimeter and with sim- 
ilar organisms, where iron and manganese are 
found. The crenothrix flourisnes in waters 
impregnated with iron and crenothrix itself se- 
cretes iron and clogs water pipes. Many other 
species have been found in ground waters, 
though they may not all be pathogenic. Some 
time ago the Massachusetts Board of Health 
tabulated those found in ground waters. In re- 
cent years, possibly from China, there have been 
imported with livestock, or by means of their 
hides, the dread anthrax spores^ (B. anthracis) 
discovered by Robert Koch in 1876, which 
have been discharged from tanneries _ into 
rivers. They are immune to the ordinary 
agencies used for the sterilization or purifi- 
cation of water supplies. Turneaure and 
Russell reported in their < Public Water Sup- 
plies ) that in Medford, Wis., a well was con- 
taminated by surface water draining into it 
from a field, where cattle had died of anthrax 
or splenic fever. 

The bacilli tetani (B. tetani) and many other 
species have been discovered in raw river water. 
In 1900, George C. Whipple compiled data 
showing the relative abundance of diatomacece, 
chorophyceoe, cyanophycece and Protozoa in 57 
lakes, ponds and storage reservoirs of Massa- 
chusetts. Consult Whipple's ( Microscopy of 
Drinking Water* pp. 139-141. None of such 
waters were entirely free from some one or 
more genera of such organisms. They may be 
considered as fairly representative of all surface 
waters. 

As a result of the prevalence of pathogenic 
bacteria in water supplies, waterborne diseases 
are many and include those already mentioned 
and many other intestinal, tubercular and other 
disturbances. It is the aim of modern research 
to prevent all such diseases and to that end 



new processes for the purification of water suo- 
plies have been perfected. New standards of 
purity and wholesomeness have»been established 
to which water supplies must conform before 
they are considered safe for potable uses. Some 
of these will be considered in this article, which 
will comprise several subtitles. 

Primitive Conditions. — In the primitive con- 
ditions of society the water supply of a terri- 
tory received but little attention. The early in- 
habitants of the world were more interested in 
its availability and abundance than they were 
in its quality. Accordingly the most populous 
settlements were those along oceans, seas, gulfs, 
bays, lakes, rivers and watercourses generally. 
Early palaeolithic remains have been found 
along the Thames. In the Stone and Bronze 
ages dwellings for human habitation were built 
on poles in the lakes of Switzerland, the British 
Islands and elsewhere and mounds were con- 
structed along the coasts in Scandinavia. Their 
occupants were thus abundantly supplied with 
water as well as protected from the ferocity 
of wild animals. Primitive peoples, however, 
knew little or nothing about the animal and 
vegetative organisms, in surface, running or 
stored-up water. At first there was little, if 
any pollution of watercourses by human agen- 
cies. The early inhabitants supplied their needs 
from nature's inexhaustible reservoirs without 
fear or even the knowledge that water in any 
of its manifold forms might be unsafe for do- 
mestic or for general potable uses. That is a 
matter of recent deduction from the slow dis- 
covery of species of pathogenic bacteria, in sur- 
face and other polluted waters. Some of these 
develop and propagate readily when taken into 
the human system as do bacilli coli com- 
munis. 

Prior to the 19th century of our era there 
are few extant records of the ravages of dis- 
eases and the destruction of human life, attrib- 
uted to the potable uses of unwholesome water. 
Many wasting f evers„ pestilences and plagues are 
recorded in history prior to the discovery of the 
deadly species of microscopic organisms in con- 
taminated water, but their causes were unknown. 
As the population increased and extended from 
watercourses inland, tanks, storage reservoirs 
and canals were constructed as they were in As- 
syria, Babylonia, Egypt and China. The 
sources of the Tigris and Euphrates and the 
waters of those rivers themselves were con- 
veyed through a network of canals to water the 
many cities of Mesopotamia whose water jars 
have been found at Nippur and elsewhere. 
Khammurabi provided for the protection of 
some of such canals in his Code of Laws, pro- 
mulgated 2250 b.c. Egypt was watered by the 
Nile, whose constant flow was maintained by 
drawing upon the impounded waters of Lake 
Moeris. Asia Minor had many springs, notably 
those in the valley of the Msenander. The Ara- 
bians utilized extinct volcanic craters as reser- 
voirs for the accumulation of waters. Greece 
had its rivers, springs and infiltration galleries. 
Rome had its lakes, springs, aqueducts, reser- 
voirs and rivers. Carthage and Palestine had 
their wells, cisterns and pools, supplied by 
mountain streams. India had its rivers, canals 
and reservoirs. All those ancient peoples 
and also the Chinese had their deeply driven 
wells, which supplied their best waters. Herod- 



WATER SUPPLY 



41 



dtus, Hippocrates, Strabo, Pliny and others 
wrote on the water supply of various countries. 
^Eschylus in his ( Eumenides ) speaking 
through Athena said : 

KaKcug krcLppoaiai ' /3opf36pu d'vdup 
"Xaprcpuv piaiviov ob-nod' evpiiceiq ttotuv, 

which has been translated as follows : 

" But if with streams defiled and tainted soil 
Cear river thou pollute, no drink thou'lt find," 

thus warning the Athenians of the dangers in 
polluted water. 

Hippocrates recommended that drinking 
water be filtered and boiled before using it. 
That is some proof that he realized that raw 
water ought to be sterilized before it was drunk. 
The Romans knew that some waters were un- 
suitable for drinking purposes and used their 
poorer qualities for irrigation, municipal foun- 
tains and other public non-potable purposes. 
Not until the advancement of science in the 
19th century had revealed waterborne diseases, 
did the quality of the water supplies of com- 
munities arouse public attention. 

The Germ Theory of Disease. — The mod- 
ern sciences of bacteriology and biology re- 
vealed the nature and activities of myriads of 
microscopic organisms in impure water herein- 
before partially described and how they become 
the media of infection and the agencies for 
spreading diseases. After the discoveries of 
Theodor Schwann, Louis Pasteur, Robert 
Koch, Ferdinand J. Cohn, Joseph Lister and 
others during the last century <( the germ 
theory of disease* was generally accepted. 
Those pathologists turned their attention to 
the discovery of means of combating the 
active agencies that were destructive of human 
life. They made several important discoveries 
of antitoxins, serums and lymphs of inesti- 
mable pathological utility to the race. These, 
however, were insufficient to check the ravages 
of all infectious diseases, some of which, as 
was stated, are -transmitted through living 
organisms in potable waters. That led to the 
study of the water supplies of communities, 
one of the most engrossing subjects of the 
last and present century. Municipalities and 
communities generally for their own welfare 
must consider and solve this problem regard- 
less of the expense thereb}^ entailed upon tax- 
payers, for it is growing in importance in 
many habitable parts of the globe with the 
ever-increasing density of population. Before 
entering upon the study of the processes for 
the purification of water supplies, it may be 
well to consider some of the physical conditions 
that contribute to the production of the abund- 
ant waters, found in the habitable portions of 
the earth. 

Earth's Water Supply.— Three-fourths of 
its surface is covered with salt water and from 
those inexhaustible fountains of the deep the 
heat of the sun is continually drawing invisible 
vapor up into the strata of the atmosphere, 
where the aqueous vapor is cooled and becomes 
visible and is wafted landward over continents. 
It comes in contact with hills and mountain 
ranges and is precipitated in rain and snow 
and so replenishes the infinite watersources of 
the uplands of the earth. Whether in some 
one of its varied forms, it accumulate in in- 
surmountable masses of snow, giving mountain 



ranges their names as it did the Himalayas, or 
in another form it become rivers of ice, like 
Alpine glaciers to form such commerce-bear- 
ing rivers as the Rhone, or in another form it 
roll in ceaseless tidal billows encircling the 
globe, or still in another form it float in 
vaporous clouds landward to fall in refreshing 
rains over vast areas of territory to percolate 
the soil and be stored in an infinite number of 
natural reservoirs, whence it flows in countless 
streams to nourish the fruits of the earth and 
supply the wants of man, it conditions and 
largely controls the activities of every genera- 
tion and will continue so to do for all time. 

Next to the free air we breathe, water is 
man's greatest earthly possession. Water is 
freely showered upon the earth in abundance and 
is stored up in countless pools, ponds, ground 
waters, subterranean springs and other natural 
reservoirs and is accumulated in brooks, 
creeks, streams, rivers, lakes, sounds, bays, 
seas and the oceans, covering three-fourths of 
the earth's surface and making habitable a 
large part of the remaining fourth. Its dis- 
tribution is affected by the uplift and physical 
configuration of continents and their relation 
to oceans, the rotation of the earth upon its 
axis, the temperature, humidity, succession and 
varying seasons, climate and trade and other 
prevailing winds. All of these and other 
natural phenomena more or less condition the 
amount of precipitation over different areas. 
Some lofty mountain ranges, continually inter- 
cepting vaporous clouds swept inland from 
the oceans and seas, are capped with permanent 
masses of snow, which are unfailing sources 
of water supply for great rivers like the 
Amazon, the Yukon, the Rhone, the Ganges 
and others. Other mountain ranges cause al- 
most daily precipitation in the form of rain, 
which collects in innumerable natural basins on 
the surface and below it, but high above the 
sea-level. These are the source of mountain 
streams and of the occasional underground 
flow found in some mountain regions. The 
amount of precipitation varies over different 
areas. In the polar regions there is no rain 
and all precipitation there is congealed in the 
form of snow and icy particles. Rainfall or 
precipitation is quite fully treated in the special 
article under the title, Rainfall, in Volume 
23 of this Encyclopedia, to which reference is 
herein made for the amount thereof over 
various areas of the habitable globe. 

Under the operation of natural laws only a 
part of rainfall can be collected, conserved 
and made available for human needs. As an- 
nounced under the article on Rainfall com- 
munities must also consider its disposal. That 
will appear from what follows. 

Disposal of Precipitation. — Water from 
rain or melting snows disappears from the 
catchment areas, (1) by evaporation, (2) by 
transpiration, (3) by runoff and (4) by perco- 
lation. These methods dispose of varying 
amounts dependent somewhat upon the sur- 
faces, whether land, or water, the seasons, 
climate, temperature, locality, altitude, vegeta- 
tion, character of the soil and other physical 
conditions. They may be briefly stated; as 
follows : 

(1) Evaporation to some extent already 
considered under the article on Rainfall may 



42 



WATER SUPPLY 



dispose of any part or all of the rainfall over 
a limited area and in some instances evapora- 
tion may exceed rainfall, as it did in Massachu- 
setts in 1883. Evaporation goes on from ice 
and snow less rapidly than from land or 
water surfaces. Vegetation and trees intercept 
precipitation and also retard evaporation. 
They tend to increase percolation for the 
moisture penetrates the soil in and about the 
roots and is held there until it percolates into 
the deep strata of the earth. Various formulae 
have been deduced to determine evaporation, as 
stated in the article on Rainfall. These, how- 
ever, are not conclusive. 

Capillary attraction acts upon water 30 or 
more inches below the surface and occasionally 
lifts a film of water 6 to 30 inches above the 
ground-water level and so aids evaporation. 
Wilton Whitney, in 1897, reported (Agri- 
culture Year BookO that capillarity drew 
moisture up 20 feet or more to nourish crops 
in the soils of California. Prof. J. B. Stew- 
art of the Agricultural College of Michi- 
gan reported that capillarity operated upon 
water from 45 to 70 inches below the surface. 
The depth of the water-table below the surface 
is not uniform and varies in different localities. 
In the Central States it was found by W. J. 
McGee to be about 22 inches below the surface. 
Charles H. Lee of the Geological Survey was 
of the opinion that the capillarity lift is 
limited to four feet in coarse sandy soil and to 
eight feet in fine sandy and clay soils. Thus 
by the operation of natural laws is the verdure 
of the earth nourished and sustained from the 
waters below, though there be insufficient pre- 
cipitation from above. Warm sunshine and 
gentle winds increase evaporation. 

From some soils evaporation averages 16.6S 
inches annually, where the rainfall is 30.29 
inches and the percolation 13.61 inches. Over 
thj: Ohio River watersheds, where the rainfall 
averages 41.1 inches, the evaporation averaged 
14.8 inches ; over the James River watersheds, 
where the rainfall averaged 42.1 inches, the 
evaporation averaged 16.3 inches ; and over the 
Sacramento River watershed, where the rain- 
fall averaged 32.2 inches, the evaporation 
averaged 8.5 inches. Evaporation from the 
Croton watershed was computed by John R. 
Freeman for a period of 32 years at 24.74 
inches. Evaporation has been computed over 
the Sudbury watershed at 23.63 inches and at 
Nashua at 23.76 inches. From water surfaces 
evaporation is much greater than from land 
surfaces. From the Chestnut Hill reservoir 
near Boston for a period of years it averaged 
39.2 inches and from a water surface at 
Croton, N. Y., it averaged 39.68 inches. 
From Mount Hope reservoir at Rochester for 
10 years, it averaged 44.45 inches, from the 
Muskingum River 40 inches, from Owens Lake, 
California, 80 inches, from Yakima River, 
Washington, 32.8 inches, from East Lake, 
Birmingham, Ala., it ranged from 52.1 inches 
to 69.4 inches. 

The United States Weather Bureau and 
United States Department of Agriculture 
for some years have compiled a record of 
evaporation from the principal watersheds of 
the United States. These show that about 
two-thirds of rainfall or precipitation over the 
United States is disposed of by evaporation. 



In Massachusetts . in 1883, evaporation was 
39.12 inches and rainfall was only 32.78 inches. 
From a water surface at Lea Bridge, Eng- 
land, it averaged 20.6 inches, whereas for 14 
years it averaged 18.14 inches from land sur- 
faces, where the rainfall was 25.72 inches. At 
Rothamsted, England, evaporation averaged 
16.68 inches, where rainfall averaged 30.29 
inches. From Taila reservoir, Edinburgh, it 
averaged 15 inches. The characteristics oi 
land areas and their general physical condi- 
tions, together with atmospheric influences, 
ahect evaporation. 

(2) Transpiration also disposes of an ap- 
preciable amount of rainfall in some localities 
through grasses, grains, other vegetation, shrub- 
bery and trees and by them returned to the at- 
mosphere. Bulletin No. 285 of the Bureau of 
Plant Industry of the United States De- 
partment of Agriculture shows the water re- 
quirements of various cereals and plants. 
Prof. Adolph T. Meyer states that (( For 
grasses and grains the ratio of pounds of 
water used to pounds of dry substance pro- 
duced varies from 300.1 to 600.1.» B. E. 
Livingston has undertaken to show (40 
Botanical Gazette 31) that there is a direct re- 
lationship between transpiration and the 
weight of vegetables produced. The Depart- 
ment of Agriculture of the United States has 
also undertaken to show that the yield of 
grain of an area is approximately proportionate 
to the water consumed. It will thus be seen 
that large quantities of water are taken up by 
the growing vegetation and forests of the earth 
and returned to the atmosphere. Growing 
crops absorb from 9 to 10 inches of rainfall and 
brush and trees from 4 to 12 inches of rain- 
fall according to estimates made by Professor 
Meyer. Nearly all such water escapes from 
the stomata of leaves into the air, for the 
amount retained is very slight. Raphael Zon 
of the United States Forestry Bureau re- 
ported in 1913, that one acre of oak forest in 
Austria absorbed upwards of 2,227 gallons of 
water daily, which was equivalent to a rainfall 
of 12^4 inches in a period of five months. 
These figures indicate the enormous quantities 
of water given off by forests into the air. 

The United States Department of Agricul- 
ture collected data in Central Europe showing 
the transpiration from forests to equal one- 
fourth the rainfall there. From deductions ot 
M. W. Harrington it appears that much of the 
rainfall is transpired into the atmosphere by 
green crops and three-fourths of it from some 
forests and less than one-third from bare soil. 
During the growing season plants and trees 
draw moisture and water from the subsoils and 
thence it escapes into the atmosphere. The 
amount of water so taken from the ground by 
the capillary attraction in vegetation, plants 
and trees and by them transpired into the at- 
mosphere varies greatly under different phys- 
ical conditions, but enough has been stated to 
indicate that an appreciable part of the pre- 
cipitation is thus disposed of and under some 
conditions that amounts to 20 inches. 

(3) The runoff from different watersheds 
also varies greatly, depending upon their 
physical characteristics, including their geologi- 
cal structures and configuration. Sandy sur- 
faces freely absorb water and from them there 



WATER SUPPLY 



is little runoff, whereas clay and rocky soils 
absorb but little rainfall and from such sur- 
faces the runoff is large. Steep slopes also 
shed water freely, whereas forest-clad areas 
retard, absorb and retain a large part of the 
rainfall. The following data will illustrate the 
amount of water disposed of in the localities 
mentioned by runoff. The runoff waters from 
catchment areas or watersheds accumulate in 
pools, ponds, lakes and rivers and become one 
of the two available sources of water supply, 
the other being ground-waters. From the 
Genesee River at Mount Morris, N. Y., 
from 1892 to 1898, the runoff ranged from 6.67 
to 19.38 inches, averaging about 12 inches. 

Prof. Adolph F. Meyer in his work on 
( Elements of Hydrology y says that evapora- 
tion and transpiration dispose of 15 to 25 
inches of rainfall and the remainder represents 
runoff which includes seepage and percolation. 
The latter will be considered under the next 
sub-title. From the map of the Geological 
Survey prepared by Henry Gannett, it appears 
that the surface runoff over different water- 
sheds ranges from three inches in the States 
east of the Rocky Mountains to 60 or 80 inches 
in the northern Pacific States. In the Central 
and Eastern States, it approximates 20 inches. 
Each watershed, however, must be independ- 
ently studied to determine its runoff. This 
varies greatly in the different months and 
necessarily averages much less than the rain- 
fall. Where the mean precipitation over the 
upper Mississippi reservoirs was 24.62 inches, 
the mean runoff was only 3.61 inches and the 
percolation averaged 14.7 inches. Over the 
Mississippi watershed it averaged 5.31 inches, 
or nearly 25 per cent of the rainfall. The 
rate of runoff to rainfall ranged from 15 per 
cent in the Missouri Basin to 24 per cent in the 
Ohio Basin. In Ohio it amounted to 22 inches. 
At Saint Croix, Wis., it was 9.6 inches, at 
Roanoke, Va., it was 17.7 inches. In the Yazoo 
and Saint Francis basins, the runoff was 90 per 
cent of the rainfall. Over the Connecticut 
River where the precipitation for nine years 
averaged 36 inches, the runoff averaged 21.9 
inches. From the James River watershed tor 
seven years, it averaged 18 inches. At 
Tohickon Creek for 24 years, it averaged 26.10 
inches. At Tombigbee, Miss., it averaged 17.10 
inches, at Sacramento, Cal., it averaged 20.4 
inches. Over the Sudbury River, where the 
precipitation for 25 years averaged 45.4 inches, 
the runoff was 21.5 inches. In the State of 
New York it averaged about 45 per cent of the 
rainfall. 

John C. Hoyt and Robert Anderson in their 
( Hydrography of the Susquehanna River 
Drainage Basing reported that the runoff in 
that part of the basin above Harrisburg from 
1891 to 1904, averaged from 49 to 55 per cent 
of the rainfall and at other places in the 
,basin from 49 to 63 per cent of the rainfall. 
Over the Nashua River where the precipitation 
for 13 years averaged 47.3 inches, the runoff 
averaged 23.9 inches. The runoff averages 
nearly 50 per cent of the rainfall in New 
England. Over the Croton River, where the 
precipitation for 43 years averaged 48.9 inches, 
the runoff averaged 23.3 inches. Over the Mil- 
liurn-Massapcqua watershed, Long Island, 
N. Y., where the mean precipitation was 46.41 



inches the runoff was about 30 per cent thereof. 
Over the Susquehanna River, where the pre- 
cipitation for 10 years averaged 38.4 inches, 
the runoff averaged 21.3 inches. Over the 
James River in Virginia, where the precipita- 
tion for 14 years averaged 42.3 inches, the run- 
off averaged 17.9 inches. Over the Potomac 
River, where the precipitation for 14 years 
averaged 37.4 inches, the runoff averaged 14.4 
inches. Over the Muskingum, where for seven 
years precipitation averaged 41.21 inches, the 
runoff averaged 14.20 inches. Over the Rock 
River, Illinois, where the precipitation for 
five years averaged 33.88 inches, the runoff 
averaged 10.03 inches. George W. Rafter in 
( Water Supply and Irrigation Papers No. 80 
United States _ Geological Survey } gives the 
runoff for various years over 12 watersheds, 
and it averaged from one-third to one-half 
the rainfall. 

Over Saale River, in Germany, where for 
14 years precipitation averaged 23.78 inches, the 
runoff averaged 7.17 inches. Over Remsched 
Dam in Germany, where for nine years pre- 
cipitation averaged 45.62 inches, the runoff aver- 
aged 30.78 inches. Over the Woodburn River 
in Ireland, where precipitation was 36.29 inches, 
the runoff was 23.04 inches. Over the Buffalo 
River in South Africa, where precipitation was 
29.52 inches, the runoff was 5.30 inches. 

The mean runoff from 20 watersheds in 
France is nearly 50 per cent of the precipi- 
tation, while in Germany the mean runoff from 
nine watersheds does not, excepting in three in- 
stances, exceed one-third the precipitation. 

The mean runoff from the watersheds of 
Great Britain ranges from 50 per cent to 75 
per cent of the precipitation. The foregoing 
data, largely from approved reports, indicate 
observed runoffs. They are not merely esti- 
mates from curves which are fraught with 
more or less error, owing to the failure in some 
instances to take into consideration all the 
necessary physical elements of a given water- 
shed to determine its actual runoff. 

The French physicist, G. Lidy, proposed the 
equation of P +-E + R = R", wherein P stands 
for percolation, E for evaporation, R for runoff 
and R" for rainfall, but that does not always 
accord with actual measurements. Atmospheric 
and material conditions may so affect the fac- 
tors of the equation as to make an un- 
balanced equation. 

T. U. Taylor, of the Society of Civil Engi- 
neers, well says : (< Runoff is a complex factor 
depending on rainfall topography, vegetation, 
kinds and condition of the soil at the time of 
the rains* (Proceedings of the Society of 
Civil Engineers, Vol. XL, p. 166). 

(4) Percolation is the descent of water from 
rain or snow, or from other sources into the 
porous strata of the earth due to gravity. 
Water thus descends to the saturated horizon 
usually a little above the water-bearing level 
of the ground water. As the latter is drawn 
upon by capillarity and ceaselessly flows away 
between the strata of the earth, it is depleted 
and the percolating waters replenish the losses. 
Such "gravity waters* descend, where the soils 
do not admit of capillarity. Ground waters fill 
the subterranean channels, supply springs and 
wells and descend 

" Through caverns measureless to man 
Down to a sunless sea." 



WATER SUPPLY 




^MM^^^^If : ;g|il^; 





■ ---"-•- : ■ 



1 



1 Titicus Reservoir and Dam, New York Water Supply 






2 Chain of Rock Filters, Saint Louis System 



WATER SUPPLY 




1 High Pressure Fire Service Pumping Station, New York 



2 Water Laboratory, New York 



44 



WATER SUPPLY 



The subterranean Rubicon in Belgium is a river 
of ground waters. 

Ground waters are well nigh unfailing 
sources of water supplies as we shall see from 
what follows. As already stated, percolation 
disposes of what is left after evaporation, 
transpiration and runoff have eliminated a large 
part of the rainfall. It is conditioned some- 
what upon the physical formation of the ter- 
ritory and also upon climate, temperature, eleva- 
tion and slope of watershed. On mountain 
slopes and hillsides, where the surface and 
strata are tilted, there is little percolation, hut 
excessive runoff. Permeability of the strata 
determines their storage capacity. Soils, un- 
consolidated deposits, sands, gravels, sand- 
stones, porous limestones, slate, till, conglom- 
erate quartzite and other rocks absorb quan- 
tities of water dependent upon their porosity. 
The denser rocks, such as granites, gneisses 
and schists are relatively impervious to satur- 
ation and in such geological formations only in 
joints, faults, bedding planes, caverns and sub- 
surface basins and channels is water collected. 
The porosity of all these different strata and 
the physical conditions of the earth's crust 
largely control the amount and depth of per- 
colation, which ranges in different locations 
from 10 per cent to 50 per cent of the pre- 
cipitation. 

Into some soils over which the rainfall is 
30.29 inches the percolation averages 13.61 
inches thereof. On Long Island it was esti- 
mated by the Burr-Hering-Freeman Commis- 
sion to be from 30 per cent to 50 per cent of 
the rainfall and to range from 15 to 25 inches, 
conditioned upon the dry and wet years. In 
Muhlthal, Germany, where the rainfall was 
47.1 inches, the percolation was found by Walter 
E. Spear to equal 30.42 inches. He estimated 
the percolation in Germany to equal 50 per 
cent of the rainfall, in Holland to range from 
11.1 inches to 15.3 inches of the rainfall and in 
Belgium to range from 6 to 9.7 inches of the 
rainfall. Herbert E. Gregory estimated that 
25 per cent of the 46.89 inches of rainfall over 
Connecticut is absorbed in the ground, while 
in some sections of the United States such 
absorption is greatest during the period of 
heaviest rainfall and then it ranges from 80 
per cent to 95 per cent of the precipitation. In 
this manner water enters the strata of the earth 
and forms underground streams or is collected 
in springs and in subsurface basins. Such 
waters are known as ground waters and supply 
wells and also flow toward river beds and to 
adjacent waters, such as lakes, seas and oceans. 
Ground waters are also supplied from streams 
flowing over the surface. Large habitable areas 
are supplied from underground flow by means 
of innumerable wells, tapping that flow, or by 
means of springs or by means of conduits, as on 
Long Island, or by means of infiltration gal- 
leries, as in some parts of Belgium, Holland 
and Germany. 

I. M. de Varona found that the amount of 
ground water recovered from Ridgewood drain- 
age area of 65.4 square miles in 1890, when 
the rainfall was 52.15 inches, was 17.68 inches, 
which was 33.9 per cent of the former. For 
several years in that area such amount ranged 
from 28 per cent to 33 per cent of the pre- 
cipitation. The Board of Water Supply esti- 
mated that, if the Ridgewood watershed were 



completely developed, the yield of ground 
waters in normal rainfall years would be nearly 
1,000,000 gallons a day for each square mile of 
area. They reported that the old watershed 
was yielding 900,000 gallons a day per square 
mile and the new one was yielding 700 000 gal- 
lons a day per square mile. The Burr-Hering- 
Freeman Commission from its investigations 
concluded that, in addition to the water being 
pumped in 1903 for Brooklyn, there might be 
obtained 200,000,000 gallons per day from the 
southern watersheds of Long Island. 

The underground reservoirs of California 
are structural basins filled with the alluvial 
debris, due to the weathering of the adjacent 
mountain ranges. Through such alluvial de- 
posits precipitation percolates to the impervious 
rock below. The ground waters are thus col- 
lected and their only escape is through some 
possible subterranean or known surface channel, 
evaporation or springing or seeping through the 
overlaying deposits at the lower side of the 
tilted, but elevated, basin. Such ground waters 
may he used and in some mountain localities 
are being drawn and conducted to irrigate des- 
ert areas and to supply needy communities with 
wholesome waters. 

The report of the State Water Conference 
of California in 1916 shows that many of Cali- 
fornia's water problems were considered and 
recommendations made for drawing upon the 
ground waters in the San Joaquin and Sacra- 
mento valleys and elsewhere to irrigate the arid 
lands where there is insufficient precipitation to 
make such lands productive and also to supply 
waters for municipal purposes. 

The extent and quality of some ground 
waters are shown in the Water Supply Papers 
of the United States Geological Survey as fol- 
lows : for Connecticut in Paper 232, for Kan- 
sas in Paper 273, for Iowa in Paper 293 and 
for Owen Valley, California, in Paper 294. 

Some of the legal principles applicable to 
ground waters in Europe and America are 
stated in Bradford Corporation v. Ferrand, 2 
Ch. 655 ; also fully reported in two British Rul- 
ing Cases, 980; The People v. New York Car- 
bonic Acid Gas Co., 196 N. Y. 421; Lindsley 
v. National Carbonic Acid Gas Co., 220 U. S. 
61 ; and in the annotations to the first of said 
cases and in the other cases referred to in said 
cases. Consult ( Water Supply and Irrigation 
Paper No. 122, > United States Geological 
Survey. 

The Board of Water Supply of New York 
reported in 1912 that the Brussels watershed of 
4.6 square miles yielded 2,100,000 gallons a day; 
that The Hague sand dune catchment area of 
7 square miles yielded 5,100,000 gallons a day; 
that the Amsterdam sand dune catchment area 
of 11.6 square miles yielded 6,100,000 gallons a 
day, and that the Muhlthal watershed of 14.7 
square miles yielded 21,300,000 gallons a day. 

These few records indicate the large quan- 
tities of ground waters obtainable from the 
watersheds mentioned for water supply pur- 
poses. They also indicate the quantities of per- 
colation into the strata of the areas described. 
They also indicate the amount of water stored 
in the earth's strata for water supply purposes. 
Some of the ground waters, however, find their 
way to the surface by seepage through sands 
and gravels, emerging in ponds, streams and 
springs. Such seepage is the outflow through 



WATER SUPPLY 



45 



the surficial layers of ground waters flowing 
downward from the water-tables above. Wher- 
ever the ground water level is higher than the 
surface or depressions in the surface, the water 
"seeps® through the sands and gravels and ap- 
pears as already stated. This is noticeable in 
marshy areas in the period of heavy rainfall 
and also in the many mineral and other seepage 
springs found in mountainous districts as well 
as in such streams as those on Long Island. 
The amount of ground water thus returned to 
the surface is but a small percentage of the 
volume of underflow, the amount and rate of 
which in some localities have been determined 
and reported by Charles S. Slichter of the 
Geological Survey. The winter flow of Minne- 
sota streams is largely seepage waters. 

Ground waters are being continuously replen- 
ished by percolating waters coming from pre- 
cipitation, the amount of which the world over 
must be known to ascertain the volume of sur- 
face and ground waters available for the water 
supplies of the inhabitants of the earth. They 
are also replenished to some extent from sur- 
face waters in some regions. 

Percolating waters descend to the surface of 
the saturated strata and become part of the 
permanent ground waters of the region. The 
saturated strata known as "water-bearing for- 
mations® are several hundred feet in thickness 
and overlie the strata that are impervious to 
water. The surface of saturation is known as 
"the ground-water level® and may be within a 
few feet of the surface. Above this saturation 
is not constant. Hence, to insure a continuous 
supply, wells must be deep enough to reach the 
ground water level, and as that fluctuates in 
different regions and in the wet and dry seasons, 
it is necessary to drive wells some distance 
below the level. From the several water hori- 
zons, comprising strata, consisting of differ- 
ent geological formations, various qualities and 
quantities of water are obtainable. Geological 
and water supplies reports of this and other 
countries may be consulted for specific informa- 
tion in relation to the nature ^ of the ground 
Avaters of any region covered in such reports. 
Myron H. Fuller and others of the United 
States Geological Survey have compiled much 
valuable data on the ground waters of the 
United States of America. From their reports 
as well as from others it appears that the 
water-bearing horizons are not always hori- 
zontal, but incline either up or down in most 
watersheds, and the force of gravity causes a 
flow of ground waters between the layers of 
such horizons, "mainly,® says Herbert E. Greg- 
ory, (( in the same direction as the slope of the 
surface.® Such flow is very slow, being from 
a few feet to a mile or more a year, depending 
on several conditions, such as character of the 
water-bearing formations, temperature, slope, 
percolation and other physical elements. The 
flow, however, is continuous and replenishes 
wells, springs and streams, as they are drawn 
upon, or otherwise discharge their waters. 
Springs and flowing wells exist in Connecticut, 
Michigan, Iowa, California and elsewhere. 
These and thousands of other wells in all lands 
are fed from the inexhaustible ground waters 
of the earth to supply human needs. Copen- 
hagen draws its entire supply from wells down 
through glacial drift to chalk deposits. 

Some of these may be hereinafter mentioned, 



as they are the principal sources of the water 
supply of most rural populations. 

Water supplies are obtained from waters 
that run off from catchment areas and from 
waters that percolate the strata of the earth. 
Before considering any particular water sup- 
ply and a few only need be considered as they 
are necessarily local and special in their char- 
acteristics, may be considered the important 
matter of the purification of water supplies. 
That subject is of general interest to all com- 
munities. 

Purification of Water Supplies. 

Introduction.— This is so important that 
it must be considered at some length and 
under several subheadings. Enough has al- 
ready been said to show that nearly all waters 
in their natural or raw state are unsuitable 
for potable uses, but most unpolluted surface 
waters may be rendered wholesome. Under 
this subtitle some of the processes in use for 
that purpose will be described. 

Purification of water supplies is no longer 
effected by the lyre of Empedocles as stated by 
Matthew Arnold, whose music did 

" Cleanse to sweet airs the breath of poisonous streams." 

Absolute self-purification of running waters 
has not been conclusively demonstrated, though 
partial purification is undoubtedly effected. 
(Consult Phelps, Earle B., ( Studies on the Self- 
Purification of Streams, } United States Public 
Health Service). Where oxygen from the air is 
dissolved in water oxidation of organic matter 
takes place and bacteria in time are destroyed 
provided such running water be not further pol- 
luted by sewage and other contaminating refuse. 
Where waters are covered with ice and oxygen 
is excluded therefrom, there may be an increase 
in their bacterial content. Prof. H. Marshall 
Ward has reported that the blue and violet 
rays of sunlight destroy bacteria near the sur- 
face but have little or no effect upon the germs 
a few feet below the surface. In darkness 
some genera are propagated. The B. coli com- 
munis, B. typhosus and others will live several 
days in running water and multiply therein, 
if there be waste material thrown into it. 

To aid natural purification, "filter wells,® 
"filter galleries® and "filter cribs® have been 
installed at some places in West Virginia, Penn- 
sylvania, Indiana, Ohio, Massachusetts and else- 
where, which are of doubtful utility for they 
merely clear the water of visible pollution, 
while they may concentrate the bacteria and 
promote their propagation. 

Polluted waters percolating into some soils 
are subjected to nitrification, which William 
P. Mason describes, as the tearing asunder of 
the objectionable nitrogenous organic materials, 
securing their union with the oxygen of the 
air and thus converting them into harmless inor- 
ganic forms. The action of nitrifying bacilli 
is mainly confined to upper layers of soil. 
Mason on ( Water Supply, ) p. 221. 

George A. Johnson of the United States 
Geological Survey says in his valuable Water 
Supply paper that "a majority of the cities 
and towns of the United States take their 
water supply from ground sources . . . 
and as a rule they are pure, clear and color- 
less, although they are very hard and others 



46 



WATER SUPPLY 



contain much iron in solution.® Recent bac- 
teriological and microscopic examinations, how- 
ever, show many ground waters and conse- 
quently wells and springs are not wholly free 
of pathogenic bacteria. All waters collected 
for potable purposes ought to be tested before 
they are used. Most of them in their natural 
state contain micro-organisms, some of which 
are pathogenic and others are harmless as 
stated by Dr. Maximilian Marsson of Berlin 
in his lectures on <( The^ Significance of Flora 
and Fauna in Maintaining the Purity of Nat- 
ural Waters.® Each water supply from what- 
ever source ought to be tested before use. 
Iron is found in the ground waters of Ger- 
many, Holland, the Netherlands, Britain, the 
United States and elsewhere. 

In his valuable work entitled ( The Purifica- 
tion of Public Water Supplies, > John W. Hill, 
at page 278, says (( the dimensions of the bacteria 
(B. typhosi) are stated in microns, designated 
by the Greek letter fi, which is 1/1000 milli- 
meter, equal to 1/25000 of an inch. Thus the 
typical dimensions of B. typhosus are .5 to .8 
i" wide, by 1.5 to 2.5 p long, or about 
1/50000 to 1/31250 of an inch wide or thick 
and 1/16666 to 1/10000 of an inch long. Tak- 
ing the average length of the typhoid bacillus 
as two microns (//) it would require 12,500 of 
these placed end on end to make an inch.® 

All such bacteria are invisible and may be de- 
tected only by some one of the modern scien- 
tific tests. (Consult Hasseltine, H. E., ( The 
Bacteriological Examination of Water, > United 
States Public Health Service). Some bacteria 
are non-pathogenic and, with such knowledge as 
we now have of their characteristics, are con- 
sidered harmless, while others are themselves 
destructive of lower bacteria, as are the Rotifera. 
Bacteriologists are studying these lower forms 
of life to determine their nature and activities 
in relation to other forms of animal life and are 
making new discoveries from time to time of 
vital importance to the welfare of the race. 

Bacteria and Other Micro-organisms in 
Water. — ■ Migula undertook to classify all bac- 
teria into five families, namely, (1) Coccaceae, 
(2) Bacteriaceae, (3) Spirillaceae, (4) Chla- 
mydo-bacteriaceae and (5) Beggiatoaceae. 

That grouping is still maintained by some 
bacteriologists. Other and additional families 
have also been suggested. Some species are 
pathogenic. Some bacteria already localized 
are B. acrophihim, B. alcaligenes, B. anthracis, 
also known as the micro spira comma bacillus, 
the cause of anthrax, or splenic fever, B. 
clocce, B. coscorobce, B. coli communis, under 
certain conditions pathogenic, one of the widely 
disseminated microbes, B. communior, B. cul- 
ticularis sporogenes, B. diphtheric?, B. enteritidis 
sporogenes in sewage, B. influenza, B. leprae, 
B. pestis, causing Bubonic plague, B. prodiglo- 
sus, B. ruminatus, B. salmoni, causing hog- 
cholera, B. shigce, found in cases of diarrhea, 
dysentery and cholera infantum, B. simplex, 
B. streptococci, B. subtilis, B. tuberculosis, B. 
tumesceus, B. typhosus, B. zvelchii, M. agilis, 
P. miribilis, B. vesiculosi and others. 

Nearly all of these subsist in natural and 
polluted waters and increase rapidly under 
favorable conditions. Thousands of some of 
them have been found in a single cubic centi- 
meter of raw water. They are found in 



natural, unpolluted pools, brooks and ponds 
in rural and even in mountain regions. 
From official reports it may be seen how 
prevalent they are in nearly all waters 
and the processes that are being adopted to 
eliminate or destroy them. Some of these will 
be considered in this article. In 1906, S. D. 
Gage concluded that they propagate more 
•rapidly in warm weather than they do in cold 
weather. Millions of some species have been 
found in a cubic centimeter of sewage, thus 
showing the danger of pollution therefrom. 

In addition to the bacteria proper are the in- 
numerable micro-organisms, comprising both 
animal and vegetative growths in drinking 
water. Prof. George C. Whipple has de- 
scribed and enumerated in his ( Microscopy of 
Drinking Water ) 200 or more of such 
species. He has classified vegetative organisms 
into such groups as (1) Diatomaceae, (2) Schiz- 
ophyceae, comprising Schizomycetes and Cy- 
anophyceae, (3) Algae, (4) Fungi and (5) vari- 
ous higher plants. Under Diatomaceae is the 
species Asterionella, which infested Mount 
Prospect reservoir in Brooklyn in 1897 and ne- 
cessitated its non-use until they could be re- 
moved. 

He has classified the animal micro-organ- 
isms into (1) Protozoa, comprising rhizopoda, 
mastigophora (flagellata), and infusoria; (2) 
Rotifera; (3) Crustacea, comprising entomo- 
straca; (4) Bryozoa; (5) Spongidae, and (6) 
various higher animals. 

Other sanitary engineers, biologists and bac- 
teriologists have localized and classified other 
species, of which these may be legion. Some 
of these have been studied and subjected to 
various tests to determine their characteristics 
and their effect upon water and water supplies. 
Some live but a short time, while others live 
for days, weeks and even months. Some after 
brief existence die and impart a disagreeable 
taste or an offensive odor to water. Some 
genera are pathogenic, that is they produce 
disease in human beings and other genera are 
harmless, so far as known at the present time. 

Prescott and Winslow in their ( Elements of 
Water Bacteriology ) describe still other char- 
acteristics of some of the countless colonies of 
animalcula infesting the surface and ground 
waters of the earth. Bacteria are found in 
shallow wells and even in deep well waters. 
Prescott and Winslow found them in deep 
wells and springs in Worcester, Waltham, 
Hyde Park, Mass., in Newport, R. I., and at 
Saranac Lake, N. Y. They have been found 
in well waters at Mainz, Leitmeritz and Kiel 
in Germany and elsewhere. Quantitative bac- 
teriological examinations and the microscope 
are now revealing bacteria in many waters 
not detected by any of the tests formerly 
applied, and that may account for the failure 
to discover them. Consequently bacteria in 
ground waters escape detection and such waters 
were formerly considered pure and wholesome. 
"Even rain and snow,® say Prescott and Win- 
slow in their ( Elements of Water Bacteriology,' 
<( are by no means free from germs, but con- 
tain them according to the amount of dust 
present in the air at the time of the precipita- 
tion. . . . Janowski, in 1888, found in freshly 
fallen snow from 34 to 463 bacteria per 
cubic centimeter of snow water. . . . It is 



WATER SUPPLY 



47 



difficult to find a river in inhabited regions, 
which does not contain several hundred or 
thousands of bacteria to the cubic centimeter.* 

In ground waters are found such micro- 
scopic organisms as crenothrix, cladothrox, lepo- 
throx, asterionella, ancerobia and typhoid bac- 
teria. The latter were reported as occurring in 
some ground waters in Germany, probably due 
to surface pollution. Still many communities 
obtain their supply from surface waters such 
as springs, streams, rivers, ponds and lakes, all 
of which are fed primarily by the waters and 
snows, precipitated over the earth's surface to 
the extent already shown. Most of said waters 
are consumed in their natural state without 
purification by filtration, sterilization or other- 
wise. As already stated, it is a well-known 
fact that most surface waters are unsafe for 
potable uses. Such waters are frequently pol- 
luted by the inflow of sewage and become the 
purveyors of deadly organisms. 

The investigation of the pollution and sani- 
tary conditions of the Potomac watershed under 
the supervision of the United States Hygienic 
Laboratory reported in Bulletin No. 104 dis- 
closed 20 or more genera of living organisms, 
including bacilli coli communes in great quan- 
tities. Spore-forming ancerobia, gas producing 
organisms, were found in parts of the river 
unpolluted by sewage, thus proving that those 
living organisms may be found in any surface 
waters. The biology of rivers has been treated 
by Dr. S. A. Forbes, Prof. R. E. Richardson 
and others in this country and by Dr. A. C. 
Houston in his ( Report on Research for The 
Metropolitan Water Board of London } and by 
W. G. Savage of England. The American Pub- 
lic Health Association in its report on Stand- 
ard Methods of Water Analysis ) in 1912, sug- 
gested tests to discover bacteria in water. 
Typhoid fever and other deadly diseases may 
have their inception from the bacteria in such 
unwholesome waters. It is, therefore, of vital 
importance to all communities, that they be 
provided with pure water supplies. This may 
be accomplished- by treating such waters in a 
manner to rid them of bacteria and all other 
foreign organisms. Other bacteria will be 
mentioned under the several processes for their 
elimination. 

The general acceptance of <( the germ theory 
of disease* led to investigation into the media 
of transmission of pathogenic microbes. Pot- 
able water was found not only to be a pur- 
veyor of such bacteria but a medium for their 
propagation. The epidemic of Asiatic cholera 
in Europe in 1847 and in 1850 has since been 
attributed largely to contaminated water sup- 
plies. The British Parliament, suspecting that 
such might be the case, in 1852 passed its first 
act requiring the filtration of the Metropolitan 
Water Supply. Later Dr. Robert Koch actually 
discovered the cholera bacillus (B. cholera 
Asiatic® or comma bacillus) and found that it 
would exist for some time in water. He thereby 
demonstrated that cholera might be spread 
through water supply of communities, as it ap- 
peared to have been spread during the epidemic 
of 1847 and 1850. Upon the surface of an open 
sand filter at Boston six genera and four and 
one-third million organisms were Found in one 
square centimeter of sand. All were not patho- 
genic but some arc an aid to filtration. How- 



ever when the decomposition of such organisms 
in water sets in, it may impart offensive odors. 
These have been grouped as aromatic, grassy 
and fishy, thereby indicating the genus under- 
going decomposition and disclosing the char- 
acter of pollution. 

The most numerous and prevalent patho- 
genic microbes found in American and foreign 
surface waters are the typhoid- bacilli, which 
caused a death rate of 23.3 per 100,000 popula- 
tion in 48 cities of the United States in 1910. 
That is four times the death rate per 100,000 
population in Berlin, Vienna and London from 
typhoid fever per annum. ^ But the death rate 
from typhoid in America is being lowered, as 
greater efforts are being made to secure pure 
waters for municipal and general potable pur- 
poses. Fortunately for rural populations most 
of their supplies are from ground waters, which 
are free or largely so from bacteria, except 
where such ground waters are near enough the 
surface to be polluted. 

Dr. Koch discovered a method of eliminat- 
ing bacteria from surface waters, which was to 
allow the water to percolate through slow 
filters. Those were found to remove most of 
the microbes from the water as it percolated 
through such layers of sand and gravel. A 
single filter, however, did not always arrest all 
the living organisms in the water, so that two 
or three sand filters came into use. The filter 
beds at first are not wholly impervious to the 
transmission of bacteria. It was learned from 
experiments that the surface must first be 
coated with a film of mud and microbes before 
the latter were entirely arrested. When such 
a film is completely formed over the surface of 
the layer, of sand, then the filter is efficient 
and may be kept in operation as long as water 
continues to percolate through it. Then its 
layers may be washed by drawing off the water 
standing in the basin and by forcing filtered 
water up through the layers of sand and of 
coagulated matter. While the filtered water is 
being so forced up through the layers, they and 
the coagulated matter thereon may be agitated 
by raking as is done in the works of Pittsburgh, 
or they may be agitated by mechanical devices. 
In this manner the coagulated matter is lifted 
and freed from the surface of the sand. Filtra- 
tion may then be resumed. This may be repeated 
once or twice before it is necessary to scrape off 
the coagulated matter and the upper layer of 
sand to the depth of one or two inches, which 
is all that is necessary to remove, in order to 
dispose of the pathogenic microbes and other 
foreign bodies and the mud and silt. The 
layers of sand so removed may then be 
cleansed, dried and replaced in the filter basin 
and filtration may be resumed. There are 
various methods of renovating sedimentary and 
infiltration basins, but the foregoing methods 
illustrate some of the processes in general use. 
It is a well-known fact that bacteria propagate 
rapidly and there is always a possibility that 
some may pass through a filter and con- 
taminate the water that has passed through 
such filter. 

The processes in general use for the purifi- 
cation of water include: (1) Sedimentation 
with or without chemicals; (2) preliminary 
treatment for slow sand filters; (3) slow sand 
filtration; (4) rapid sand filtration ; (5) the dis- 



48 



WATER SUPPLY 



infection of water supplies by various chemi- 
cals; (6) the application of (a) ozone, or 
(b) ultra-violet rays of light, and (7) by 
sterilization. Two or more of these processes 
may be used in succession in the same plant, 
or they may form parts of a single system 
though operating independently of each other. 

In the application of these processes many 
subsidiary details are involved and the com- 
pleted waterworks of a city are often its most 
costly, complex and elaborate public works. 

A brief description of each of these several 
processes for the purification of water may 
show something of their value and adaptability 
to the services which they are required to per- 
form in rendering water suitable for domestic 
and potable purposes. 

1. Sedimentation is the clarification of tur- 
bid or of other waters holding particles of for- 
eign matter in suspension. This may be aided 



at Cincinnati and Covington ; Dr. A. C. Houston 
reported to the London Metropolitan Board 
that (( thirty days' storage of river-water is tan- 
tamount to sterilization^ as to pathogenic mi- 
crobes. William P. Mason, however, states 
that (( bacteria sink but slowly in water.** If 
that be so, a long period of subsidence is neces- 
sary to make sedimentation an efficient process 
for their removal from water supplies. 

2. The preliminary treatment of water for 
slow sand filters may be affected by the use of 
sulphate of lime to coagulate the clay particles 
in suspension as in the Potomac, or by the use 
of concrete sedimentation basins with roughing 
filters of coarse stone, called baffles, to strain out 
the coarser materials in some waters coagulated 
by the introduction of chemicals and removed 
therefrom before the water passes into the sedi- 
mentation basins, as in the filtration plant at 
Pittsburgh, or still by the use of such prelimi- 




n •.•.[•„•. A k . ,£h ° i *!?"*?'* in fl * . * .1° . *■ . A .*.°'o*.°A *<.* = = 
U$Us J-^t • * JUL *« V/» r * l{ a' i ! . c Cjj yLg UV^ * /I b_° • * M 

j^ty j? No,23 _ Co " rt . ■5£" No - : * • ■ Mo,2B 

j No.\|j26 £ Na||26 T No.||27 « Vo^ja ] Na|^9 ! 



Fig. 1.— General Plan of Filtration Plant, Washington, D. C. 



by the introduction of such chemicals as tend 
to promote coagulation of the particles in sus- 
pension in the water. Sedimentation is the 
process used in the removal of such large par* 
tides as are found in the waters of the Hudson 
above Poughkeepsie, in those of the Potomac 
above Washington, in the Ohio above Cincinnati 
and Louisville and in the Mississippi above New 
Orleans, in all of which cities sedimentation 
reservoirs and coagulation basins are in use. 
The process removes most of the colloidal mate- 
rial in suspension. Percy Frankland found that 
sedimentation removed 82 per cent of the bac- 
teria in the Grand Junction Company's reservoir 
and about 87 per cent of the bacteria from the 
water that had passed through to storage res- 
ervoirs of the West Middlesex Company. Offi- 
cial reports show that from 87 per cent to 97 
per cent of the bacteria were removed from the 
waters after 32 days subsidence in the reservoirs 



nary filters without coagulation, as those of 
the Torresdale type in use at Philadelphia, 
where since their installation it has been found 
necessary to install a sedimentation basin for 
the use of coagulants on account of the large 
quantity of turbid waters to be treated, or still 
by the use of such prefilters as those described 
D3 r William F. Johnson, in the Puech-Chabal 
system extensively used in Europe. That sys- 
tem consists of a series of decreasing in size 
roughing filters, a subsiding basin and a coagu- 
lating basin. 

3. The slow sand filtration process is in use 
in Washington, D. C. A large area of sand is 
required and many water-tight basins of 
sand are necessary, where a large volume of 
water is to be clarified. The Belmont and 
Queen Lane filters of Philadelphia are of this 
type and comprise many shallow sand beds 
underlain with layers of gravel. Such filters 



WATER SUPPLY 



49 



have masonry or concrete walls and are cov- 
ered over where necessary to prevent freezing. 
Philadelphia has five slow sand filtration 
plants, known as the Upper and Lower Rox- 
borough, Belmont, Torresdale and Queen Lane 
plants, with an aggregate daily capacity of 405,- 
000,000 gallons, the largest in the world. Some 
of these have settling basins, sedimentation 
basins, covered preliminary filters, filtered water 
reservoirs, the Torresdale plant of 240,000,000 
gallons daily capacity having 120 covered me- 
chanical preliminary filters. Philadelphia ob- 
tains its supply from the Schuylkill and Dela- 
ware rivers and the latter is becoming so pol- 
luted, that other sources may be required. The 
arrangements there for treating water with 
chemicals were elaborate and it was necessary 
to use chlorine, for the Torresdale filters did 
not remove all the bacteria. 

From Hugh S. Cumming's investigation of 
the Potomac Watershed^ it appears that the 
District of Columbia obtains its supply of water 
from the Potomac River at Great Falls 150^4 
feet above tide-water. The water is conducted 
through a circular conduit nine feet in diameter 
most of the 15 miles distance by gravity to the 
Dalecarlia, Georgetown and McMillan Park res- 
ervoirs, from the latter of which the water is 
pumped up 21 feet to the slow sand filtration 
plant, one of the best in the country, compris- 
ing 29 filters, each having an area of an acre, 
altogether having a daily capacity of upwards 
of 100,000,000 gallons. In the Georgetown reser- 
voir the water is sometimes treated with 
sulphate of aluminum, used as a coagulant 
to assist sedimentation before slow sand filtra- 
tion and in some cases it is used where no fil- 
tration is employed. 

Plants for supplying such preparation of 
alum as a coagulant have recently been installed 
at Trenton, N. J., Springfield, Mass., Columbus, 
Ohio, and at Omaha, Neb. Slow sand filters 
were used by the Chelsea Water Company of 
London in 1829 to remove turbidity from water. 
As now constructed their daily capacity is from 
2,000,000 to 3,000,000, and in some exceptional 
cases as high as from 6,000,000 to 8,000,000 gal- 
lons per acre. When they become clogged, as 
they necessarily do, then the coagulated deposit 
is removed. Then the superficial layers of sand 
from one-half to one and one-half inches in 
depth are scraped off, then washed and dried 
and replaced. There are several means for 
sand washing, including the Nichols separator, 
the Blaisdell filter sand-washing machine and 
surface raking, which increases the efficiency of 
the process of slow sand filtration. In all such 
plants at least 12 inches of sand must be main- 
tained and from two to three feet of sand is 
much more efficient. Many cities and villages 
are using the slow sand filtration process for 
the filtration of water, including New Orleans, 
Pittsburgh, Superior, Zurich, Yokohama and 
Osaka, where in 1905, the bacteria were reduced 
from 200 to 25 per cubic centimeter, while at 
Lawrence, Mass., the bacteria in the Merri- 
mac River water were reduced from 12,700 to 70 
per cubic centimeter as a result of the installa- 
tion of the slow sand filtration plant there in 
1893. The chlorine disinfection of that water 
was reported on by Clark and Gage in 1909, 
showing the reduction of bacteria at different 
temperatures of the water. Such plants arc at 

VOL. 29 — 4 



Albany, N. Y., and at Wilmington, Del., and 
many are in use in Europe. Some of them 
are equipped with automatic controllers. The 
rate of nitration is slow and the filter must be 
cleaned and that is done by scraping off the 
superficial layers of sand and then washing, 
drying and replacing them. Allen Hazen says 
that (( sand filtration alone, without preliminary 
treatment, is able to remove nearly all of the 
objectionable bacteria, as well as other organ- 
isms, from many waters, at the same time puri- 
fying them in other ways. }) The bacterial con- 
tent of the filtered water is very low, but not 
entirely free from organisms. It was on the re- 
port of James P. Kirkwood of his investigations 
in Europe in 1866, that Slow Sand Filtration 
plants were subsequently constructed at Pough- 
keepsie, Lowell, Columbus and Toledo. 

4. Rapid sand filters, by some also denomi- 
nated mechanical filters, require less area than 
do the former type, but they are more elaborate 
and somewhat complex in construction. Typical 
plants comprise pumping stations, preliminary 
settling basins, coagulation basins for the treat- 
ment of the waters by chemicals, chemical 
rooms and mixers, filter tanks with connecting 
pipes, cleaning apparatus, controlling mechan- 
ism, covered reservoirs for the filtered water, 
a drainage system and other equipment to meet 
existing conditions, as to locality, characteristics 
of raw water and amount of filtered water de- 
sired. Filters of this type will clarify 125,000,- 
000 gallons of water a day per acre of its tur- 
bidity and of 90 per cent to 99 per cent of its 
bacteria. Strictly modern rapid sand filter 
plants under skilful management with the 
proper use of germicidal chemicals are nearly 
100 per cent efficient in the elimination of all 
bacteria from ordinary running surface waters. 
Some waters, however, carry in solution an 
abnormal amount of foreign substances and 
those may partially neutralize the germicidal 
agents of the usual dosage and in such cases 
the bacterial content may not be entirely negli- 
gible. In such cases the foreign matter may 
partially consume the disinfectant, so that some 
of the bacteria may escape and appear in the 
effluent. Such effluents may then be treated 
with chlorine, which will destroy the remaining 
bacteria, unless they be of a class immune to 
such treatment. 

Rapid sand filters of the improved type are 
in use in Little Falls, N. J., Cincinnati, Colum- 
bus, Cleveland, Youngstown and Toledo in 
Ohio, Louisville, Ky., Saint Louis, New Orleans, 
Harrisburg, Minneapolis, Baltimore and else- 
where. The Cincinnati, Louisville, New Orleans 
and some others also have preliminary settling 
basins, where the suspended colloidal matter in 
the water settles. The water is then drawn off 
into the coagulation basins and therein coagu- 
lation is effected by the introduction of com- 
mon alum, or aluminum sulphate alone or with 
caustic lime or ferrous sulphate (copperas) or 
other chemical coagulant. When brine is used 
in some cases caustic alkali is also needed. 

Joseph W. Ellms, author of ( Watcr Puri- 
fication > states that (( such electrolytes as acid 
basis and salts will coagulate colloidal suspen- 
sions and so will hydrochloric acid, caustic 
soda, caustic lime or ordinary salt solutions. n 
In that manner all organic matter including 
bacteria and inorganic matter suspended in the 



50 



WATER SUPPLY 



water are entangled and deposited on the layer 
of sand at the bottom of the basin. The bac- 
teria and colloidal matter so deposited form a 
coating, or film over the surface of sand im- 
pervious to bacteria and other suspended mat- 
ter but not so to water, which flows rapidly 
through it. Many devices serve to facilitate the 
operation of that process of the purification of 
the raw river waters, which are the source of 
supplies for such cities. 

Rapid sand filtration operates rapidly, 
owing in part to the reverse flow of water 
through the sand, which flow washes away the 
accumulation of coagulated matter and bacteria 
into the drainage pipes. Several hundred cities 
are using this process for the purification of 
their waters, including many foreign cities. The 
bacteria in the Polar River water at Bethman- 
galia, India, were reduced from 4,350 to 13 per 
cubic centimeter. 

The construction and operation of the rapid 
sand filtration plant at Baltimore will suffice 
to illustrate that process of purification of 
water supplies. 

Baltimore formerly obtained its water supply 
from Gunpowder River, collected into Loch- 
Raven and from Jones Falls collected into Loch 
Roland. Both sources were polluted by patho- 
genic bacteria, including B. typhosi and B. coli 
communes in great quantities. 

Baltimore still obtains its principal water 
supply from the new impounding reservoir at 
Loch Raven, which has been enlarged by a new 
dam 48 feet above the bedrock. The water is 
drawn through a tunnel 12 feet in diameter 
into Lake Montebello and from that lake 
it is pumped through a venturi meter, an 
aerator gate house, head house with tower 
80 feet high containing chemical storage 
bins, a mixing basin, coagulating basins 
and thence to the filters. The design involves 
the handling of wash waters in the settling res- 
ervoirs, a drainage system, effluent pipe details, 
a head house, a pumping station, a baffle mixing 
chamber, two coagulating basins, covered fil- 
tered water reservoirs and other equipments. 

A nine-foot conduit, recently built, connects 
the Montebello reservoirs with the distributing 
system at Lake Clifton. Altogether the Bal- 
timore new mechanical filtration plant, also 
known as the rapid sand filter, at Lake Mon- 
tebello, has 32 units, each with a capacity of 
4,000,000 gallons daily. 

5. The disinfection of water supplies by 
various chemicals. In 1774 the Swedish chem- 
ist, Karl Wilhelm Scheele, made an analysis of 
manganese dioxide and from that he was led 
to the discovery of chlorine. Hydrochloric 
acid, consisting of chlorine and hydrogen, was 
isolated by J. Priestly in 1772. Chlorine de- 
pends upon the oxidation of that acid, whose 
salts are known as chlorides. In 1800 chlorine 
was used as a disinfectant in France and in 
England. In 1854 it was used in London to 
deodorize sewage. Another chlorine disinfect- 
ant was Eau de Javelle made by Percy, near 
Paris in 1792, also known as Labarraque solu- 
tion, chloros and chlorozone, according to 
Joseph Race. The germicidal nature of chlo- 
rine, however, was not understood until after 
the discovery of living organisms in water. 
Experiments were made with chlorine in 



France, England, Germany and in the United 
States. In 1890 a plant was erected for its 
manufacture at Bradford, England, and in 1893 
one was erected at Brewster, N. Y., and «elec- 
trozone" was applied to the sewage then pol- 
luting the Croton water supply. Dr. A. C. 
Houston of London is said to be the first to 
apply chlorine to the purification of water. The 
history of disinfectants now very widely and 
generally used is given to show the slow prog- 
ress made in the evolution of such agencies for 
the purification of water supplies. Had chlorine 
been in general use within half a century after 
its discovery, the appalling mortality in London 
in 1854, due to cholera, and in Germany in 
1892-93, also due to cholera, might have been 
avoided. 

The chemicals now in use as such disin- 
fectants are liquefied chlorine gas, calcium 
hypochlorite or bleaching powder, sodium 
hypochlorite, copper sulphate in minute quanti- 
ties, sulphate of ammonia, sulphate of iron, 
caustic and hydrated lime, carbonate of soda, 
chloramine and possibly others or compounds 
of some of these. Most of these germicides 
are of recent discovery and their application 
to water supplies has necessitated the renova- 
tion of most of the water plants of this and 
other countries. Since the proposal of Webster 
in 1889 to use electrolyzed sea-water as a dis- 
infectant, several_ processes have been utilized 
for the transmission of a current of electricity 
through some of the foregoing and other sub- 
stances to produce coagulants and disinfectants. 

In 1859 James Watt discovered that 
hypochlorites were produced by the electrolysis 
of the chlorides of alkalies and alkaline earths. 

Joseph Race, in his ( Chlorination of Water, > 
p. 106, maintains that in the electrolysis (( of the 
solution of sodium chloride, the chlorine may 
combine with the sodium hydrate formed by 
the action of the sodium on the water to form 
sodium hypochlorite, one-half of the chlorine 
produced is found as hypochlorite and the 
other half reforming sodium chloride. . . . 
The electrolytic hypochlorite method offers 
some advantages, but in the great majority of 
plants it cannot economically compete with 
bleach.^ 

Commercial bleaching powder is formed 
by passing chlorine gas over slacked lime. It is 
also known as calcium hypochlorite and as 
stated by Joseph W. Ellms in his ( Water 
Purification^ p. 369, consists of several chemi- 
cals formed by the reaction of chlorine and 
calcium, such as calcium oxychloride, calcium 
chloride, calcium chlorate, calcium hydroxide, 
calcium carbonate, calcium sulphate, oxides of 
Na.K.Mg.Fe and Si. and moisture. These un- 
dergo reactions resulting in the evolution of 
oxygen which is set free and is destructive of 
micro-organisms. Oxygen is the potential en- 
ergy that destroys them. 

Calcium hypochlorite was first used effec- 
tively in this country to purify the waters of 
the Benton reservoir at Jersey City of bac- 
teria. Since that it has been and is still ex- 
tensively used as a disinfectant. Its germicidal 
energy is said to equal ozone as an oxydizing 
and sterilizing agent, and is much cheaper than 
ozone. 

Hypochlorite of sodium, obtained by the 



WATER SUPPLY 



51 



electrolysis of salt, has some advantages over 
hypochlorite of calcium, which produces sludge, 
that clogs orifices and is dangerous to fish, 
when dumped into running waters. 

Joseph Race, in his ( Chlorination of Water, } 
p. 17, says that (( on dissolving bleach in water 
the first action is the decomposition of calcium 
oxychloride into an equal number of molecules 
of calcium hypochlorite and calcium chloride.® 
At page 20 he says : (( The addition of small 
quantities of sodium chloride (0.1 per cent) in- 
creases the hydrolysis of bleach solutions but 
much larger quantities tend to the opposite di- 
rection .... Sodium chloride in the absence 
of hypochlorites was found to have no influ- 
ence upon the viability of B. coli in water. 

Bleaching powder is one of the most effi- 
cient germicidal agents. The neutralizing chem- 
ical for an overdose of bleaching solution is 
sodium thiosulphate at one-half the amount of 
the former. 

F. Raschig, Samuel Rideal and Joseph Race 
have developed the new germicide, known as 
chloramine (NH 2 C1), formed by adding am- 
monia to bleaching solution, which increases the 
germicidal action of the latter. Joseph Race 
has stated that from numerous experiments he 
concluded that the most efficient proportion of 
the compound was two parts by weight of chlo- 
rine to one part by weight of ammonia. Consult 
Race, J., Chlorination of Water } (p. 118). 

On a recent inspection of the operation of 
the chloramine process at Ottawa, the author 
learned that the after-growth noted after the use 
of hypochlorite in some plants amounting to 20,- 
000 bacteria per cubic centimeter has been elimi- 
nated and that the B. coli communes had been 
nearly all destroyed. Race reported that similar 
results followed the application of chloramine 
at the Capitol Hill reservoir in Denver, where 
bacteria dropped from 15,000 to 10 per cubic 
centimeter. It is important to the health of a 
community that some process be adopted that 
will eliminate or destroy pathogenic bacteria, 
so that less than 100 bacteria per cubic centi- 
meter survive whatever process of purification 
that community may adopt. Otherwise, its 
water supply is not of that degree of purity 
which hygienic standards require for potable 
uses. Such standards have been greatly raised 
in the last half century, and no enlightened 
community would be suffered to use such water 
supplies as were in general use before the 
nature and characteristics of the micro-organ- 
isms in such waters were discovered and par- 
tially understood. Therefore the modern proc- 
esses for the purification must be efficient, and 
to be so they must conform to scientific stand- 
ards. Communities will not be permitted longer 
to provide water laden with pathogenic mi- 
crobes, and if any one of the foregoing processes 
of purification fail to eliminate or destroy such 
organisms, then it ought to be superseded by 
the 'installation of a more efficient process, as 
was done at Ottawa by the substitution of the 
chloramine in place of liquid chlorine. 

Lieutenant Nesfield of the Indian Medical 
Service is said to have used liquid chlorine 
gas as a disinfectant of water in 1903. Smce 
1910 liquified chlorine gas has been used in 
several cantonments of the United States army 
and at Wilmington, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, 
Xew York and in many other places. On the 
Western Front during the Great World War 



it was successfully applied by means of liquid 
chlorine machines. The Dunwoodie chlorin- 
ating plant for New York City has a daily 
capacity of 400,000,000 gallons. The chlorine 
gas is introduced into the water in the aqueduct 
as it leaves the Kensico reservoir to ensure 
practical sterilization of the water before it 
reaches the city of New York. This process 
has some advantages over the hypochlorite or 
ozone process, though there is danger of injury 
to operators from leakages of the gas, which 
is injurious to the lungs and deadly if inhaled 
in concentrations of .06 per cent. The rela- 
tive efficiency and cost of installation of these 
several processes are usually considered be- 
fore any one is installed. Recently halazone 
(CkNOaS GfLCOOH) has been found to be 
an efficient chemical for sterilizing heavily 
polluted waters. 

6. The Application of (a) Ozone, or (b) 
Ultra Violet Rays of Light. — (a) "Ozone is 
produced,* says Allen Hazen in his ( Clean 
Water and How to Get It,> p. 101, «by the 
discharge of high-tension electricity through air 
under certain conditions. The air is afterward 
pumped through the water to be treated or 
otherwise the water is showered downward 
through towers in which the ozonized air is 
circulated.* Ozone, being a modification of 
oxygen, is a more active oxidizing agent than 
oxygen and is a powerful disinfectant. There 
are many devices for the application of ozoned 
air to the purification of water, but the process 
is equally efficient but more expensive than the 
application of the chemicals hereinbefore de- 
scribed. t The De Frise system at Saint Maur 
gives satisfaction in sterilizing the Marne water 
after sedimentation and filtration. Sanitary 
commissions, health authorities and specialists 
have extensively experimented with it in 
Europe and found ozonized air, when properly 
applied, was destructive of bacteria in water. 
The application of the ozonized air produced 
by the ozonizers, of which there are several in 
use, such as the large plant of 128 Siemens 
and Halske ozonizers at Petrograd, with five 
sterilizing towers, is as follows : 

The ozonized air enters the bottom of water 
towers and is absorbed by the water as it de- 
scends through the layers of gravel in some 
and sieves in other towers after the water has 
first passed through sedimentation and pre- 
liminary sand-filter basins. Such water as it 
enters the sterilizer may still contain several 
hundred bacteria per cubic centimeter. The 
pathogenic bacteria, such as typhoid and cholera 
microbes, are destroyed by ozonized air, though 
the more hardy and harmless ones may escape 
destruction. In the higher towers, the steriliz- 
ing ozonized air is injected at several levels, 
as at Ginnekin, Holland, where all pathogenic 
bacteria are destroyed. The process is more 
costly than the hypochlorite process, but it has 
been pronounced by an English expert as 
"ideal.® It is in use in Brussels, Ginnekin, 
Paris, London, Berlin, Petrograd, Florence, 
Chartres, Nice, Saint Maur, Wiesbaden, 
Paderborn and in many other European cities, 
and at one plant in Philadelphia and in Ann 
Arbor, Herring Run, Md., and a few other 
places, but it is not at present extensively used 
in America. It has some advantages over the 
chlorine processes. The Otto process in use in 
Nice purifies 5,000,000 gallons daily. Its general 



52 



WATER SUPPLY 



use in Europe, after most thorough tests as to 
its efficiency, may result in its more general 
use in America. 

(b) Ultra-violet rays of light. One of the 
recently discovered processes for the destruc- 
tion of pathogenic bacteria is the application of 
ultra-violet light to the flow of water through 
flumes, so that the organisms are exposed to 
the concentration of its rays. Several ultra- 
violet ray sterilizers have been devised and suc- 
cessfully used in the rapid destruction of 
bacteria. It was demonstrated, by experiments 
made by Henri Helbronner and others at 
Sorbonne University in Paris, that bacteria can- 
not long endure the direct ultra-violet rays of 
three ten-thousandths of a millimeter in length. 
American tests have shown that it required 
only one-twentieth of a second to kill bacteria 
with such rays, but they must not be inter- 
cepted by suspended organic matter in the 
water. It is, therefore, necessary that the water 
be rid of turbidity before applying the ultra- 
violet ray process to its sterilization, for Dr. 
Von Reckling-Hausen declared that it is the 
light and not chemical reaction that produces 
the germicidal results. Ultra-violet ray tests 
made at Luneville, France, on water containing 
60,000 germs per cubic centimeter reduced the 
number to 10 germs per cubic centimeter and 
destroyed all B. coli. The death rate of 70 to 
160 of typhoid fever also became negligible. 
Since devastations of the Great World War 
began, the water supply of northern France 
has been contaminated at the rate of 4,600 
putrescent bacteria and 1,000 B. coli per cubic 
centimeter and they may go on for years in 
an increasing ratio, in consequence of the count- 
less burials and pollution of the underground 
waters of the war zone. The Quartz-Mercury 
lamp is sometimes used to produce ultra-violet 
rays for the sterilization of water. That process 
eliminated nearly all the bacteria from the raw 
Durance river water at Marseilles. 

7. By Sterilization. — Purification is also gen- 
erally effected by sterilization, which is used in 
conjunction with several of the processes al- 
ready mentioned. By reason of the various 
chemicals used and their germicidal action on 
micro-organisms, irrespective of the other 
agencies employed, too much attention cannot be 
given to the process of sterilization. 

In recent years some public water supplies 
have heen purified by sterilization, where 
sewage bacteria now known as ancerobic spore- 
forming bacilli, including B. cerogenes capsul- 
atus, B. enteritidis, or B. sporogenes and B. 
streptococci were present. Active agents were 
necessary to destroy them. The basins or reser- 
voirs where the process of sterilization is in 
operation must be cleansed two or more times 
a day. 

In 1892, the English employed calcium hypo- 
chlorite to disinfect sewage. In the following 
year the American Public Health Association 
recommended its use as a disinfectant. It was 
known in 1892 that hypochlorites were efficient 
water sterilizers. In 1897 they were first used 
at Maidstone, England, to purify its water sup- 
ply, after a typhoid epidemic. In 1904 they 
were applied to disinfect the water pipes in 
London. Thereafter they came into quite gen- 
eral use in this and other countries. Hypo- 
chlorite of lime and hypochlorite of soda are 



the principal chemicals used. Where hypo- 
chlorite of lime is used its solutions are 
thoroughly mixed with the raw water in the 
proportion of 5 to 10 pounds of the powder 
to 1,000,000 gallons of water, which is destruc- 
tive of such pathogenic germs as typhoid, 
cholera and other bacilli. The objection to this 
chemical is that a sludge is formed, which 
interrupts the flow through the orifices and is 
also injurious to aquatic life, when deposited 
in fresh waters. Hypochlorite of soda, elec- 
trolytically produced, is somewhat more de- 
structive of pathogenic bacteria than hypo- 
chlorite of lime. It is not difficult to produce 
and does not form sludge. The hypochlorites, 
however, are not a substitute for filtration, but 
rather additional agencies, that may he used to 
ensure complete destruction of pathogenic 
germs. Some spore-forming bacteria in water 
are not pathogenic and not all of these are 
destroyed, because they are hardy and not af- 
fected by any of these chemicals, when in such 
small proportions as not to affect the water 
deleteriously, but made sufficiently active to 
destroy pathogenic germs, which are less hardy. 
Many cities in this and in other countries 
use the hypochlorite processes in connection 
with sedimentation and filtration. 

Francis F. Langley reported (American 
Journal Public Health, 4 Dec. 1914) that two 
billion gallons of water per day were being 
treated with bleaching powder, or chlorine gas. 
As already stated, liquid chlorine being the 
liquification of chlorine gas, produced by the 
electrolysis of sodium chloride in the manufac- 
ture of caustic soda, is also used to sterilize 
water supplies. There are several devices for 
applying the gas, which is eliminated from the 
liquid by heat, to the tanks of water to be 
treated. The gaseous vapor is diffused through 
the water and destroys the pathogenic germs. 
Some of the chlorinated water so sterilized in 
the tower of Wilmington contained only from 
6 to 50 hacteria per cubic centimeter. Liquid 
chlorine is one of the sterilizing agencies used 
in Chicago Stock Yards, at Plrladelphia, Pa., 
Saint Louis, Mo., Trenton and Newark, N. J., 
Cincinnati, Ohio, Niagara Falls and Ossining, 
N. Y., Hartford and Stamford, Conn., Saint 
Catherines and other places in Canada and at 
Honolulu, Hawaii, and elsewhere. 

The ferrochlorine process of sterilization has 
been tested in Paris and found to be an effi- 
cient bactericide, though on account of its cost 
it is not in general use. Another sterilizing 
chemical was proposed in the form of copper 
sulphates, but that has not been generally 
adopted. It was proposed as a sterilizing 
process to dispose of microscopic organisms. 
The research work of the Bureau of Plant 
Industry of the United States Department of 
Agriculture, D. D. Jackson in his work on 
( Odors and Tastes of Surface Waters, } and 
especially George C. Whipple, department engi- 
neer under the Burr-Hering-Freeman Commis- 
sion, on the Additional Water Supply of New 
York City, and others have called attention to 
algae, and spore-forming diatomacece (diatoms), 
or bacillariew , now classified as vegetative or- 
ganisms, varying in diameter from one thou- 
sandth of a millimeter to one millimeter. 
Several species of these microscopic organ- 
isms are found in fresh waters. Several species 



WATER SUPPLY 



53 



of Anopheles have been localized in the waters 
of Alabama, South Carolina and North Caro- 
lina by Dr. H. R. Carter and others of the 
United States Public Health Service. Anopheles 
are the cause of malaria. Mosquito-eating fish 
are being introduced to rid such waters of the 
Anopheles larvae. 

Dr. Zacharias has identified the animalcula 
known as flagellata, which multiply rapidly and 
discolor surface waters. Rhizopods, including 
amoebcB, difflugia and other genera; and in- 
fusoria which are the highest type of Protozoa, 
are also microscopic. Some are free-swim- 
ming and others attached animalcula. They exist 
in countless colonies and some of them are in- 
ternal parasites. These infest reservoirs and 
other potable waters. The larvae of chirono- 
mus are found in upper layers of sand of water- 
works in great colonies. Green and blue algce 
known in Germany as (( water blossoms,* 
zoogloea, beggiatoa and innumerable other 
micro-organisms infest waterworks, form slimy 
organic patches and undergo putrefactive 
changes. These decompose and produce odors 
and give water an unpleasant taste. George T. 
Moore and Dr. Karl F. Kellerman of the 
United States Department of Agriculture 
recommended the use of copper sulphate, but 
that does not always destroy all the typhoid 
bacilli and is a dangerous chemical to use, ex- 
cept in the smallest quantities, and when so 
used it is less efficient than the chlorides. 
Therefore it has not come into general use. 

Nearly all the processes of sterilization are 
of recent discovery and those in general use 
are ridding potable waters of most of their 
pathogenic bacteria. Prior to their discovery 
half a century ago, they were the causes of 
epidemics that wasted away communities and 
historians referred to them as pestilences and 
plagues. It may be assumed that polluted water 
has destroyed as many human lives as the wars 
of all the ages. 

Progressive nations are fast coming to 
realize that impure water is one of the greatest 
known menaces to health and to life itself. In 
this modern era the researches of scientists and 
experiments by health authorities have demon- 
strated that most pathogenic bacteria and nearly 
all living organisms in surface and other 
waters may be eliminated therefrom and all 
such waters may be made safe for potable 
and all other uses. 

Communities are no longer limited to lakes, 
mountain streams, springs and other ground 
sources for their water supply, but may draw 
raw water from rivers, streams, lakes and 
ponds provided such waters be treated by some 
of the processes heretofore mentioned, that will 
render such waters pure and wholesome, as is 
being done by scores of cities in this and other 
countries. The water supply of a community 
is now largely a matter of purification, and 
while turbid or bacteria-laden waters are not 
desirable on account of the expense involved 
in carrying on the processes of purification, 
still if other adequate sources be not avail- 
able, river and other surface waters may be 
made safe for potable purposes. Thus it is 
possible for communities to obtain their supply 
from nearby surface waters. 

The Hudson, the Ohio, the Mississippi, the 
Niagara, the Saint Lawrence, the Thames the 



Seine, the Rhine, the Rhone, the Elbe, the 
Danube, the Volga, the Nile, the Ganges, the 
Irrawaddy, the Yangtse-Kiang and scores of 
other rivers, as well as the Great Lakes in 
North America, the British, Swiss, Italian, 
African and innumerable other lakes are the 
sources of the water supply for millions of 
population. When such waters are scientifically 
treated by some of the processes hereinbefore 
described, they are safe and palatable. The 
importance of preserving all such surface 
waters from artificial contamination has led to 
the enactment of many laws to prevent such 
contamination. In America and Europe water 
supply authorities are usually empowered to 
acquire catchment areas and in some instances 
large parts of watersheds to prevent artificial 
contamination as well as to procure additional 
sources as has been done by New York City in 
acquiring the Catskill watershed and certain 
British cities in acquiring large additional areas 
to ensure wholesome water supplies. Rather 
slowly the public conscience is being enlightened 
and awakening to the dangers of the contami- 
nation of water supply sources, in permitting 
the inflow of sewage, effluents from industrial 
plants, gas refuse, chemical works and other 
artificial wastes, all of which pollute and render 
waters noxious in their natural state. Most of 
these, however, are susceptible of such treat- 
ment as to ensure their wholesomeness for 
potable purposes. 

The introduction and general adoption of 
scientific processes for the purification of water 
for municipal and domestic purposes herein- 
before described and others have necessitated 
the discontinuance of the use, or the demolition 
of many old and the installation of many new 
waterworks in this and other countries. The 
needs of each community and the physical con- 
ditions of the territory of each whence its supply 
must come, as well as the water sources them- 
selves, become matters of public investigation 
and of scientific study. This was demonstrated 
in the undertaking on the part of the city of 
New York to obtain its additional water sup- 
ply, commencing in 1896 and continuing for 20 
years or longer. Such progress has been made 
in the scientific treatment of water for mu- 
nicipal purposes, that, in addition to a score or 
more of processes for its purification in most 
any state, its acidity may be neutralized, as at 
Mossley, England, it may be softened by any 
one of several processes, or it may be hardened 
and it may be deferrized as in Germany to get 
rid of the microscopic crenothrix and other 
bacteria absorbing iron into their tissues and 
closing water mains. 

In all these matters conditions differ and it 
is necessary to specialize in the treatment of 
each municipal water supply. No two are 
identical, unless they form parts of the same 
system, as now does the supply for several 
boroughs of New York City, when the same 
general principles may apply, as to the collec- 
tion, purification and distribution of water for 
such boroughs. But in most cases, each supply 
must be studied independently of all others 
and provided for, with special reference to its 
peculiar characteristics, which are as variable 
as earth's watersheds. 

Removal of the Salts of Calcium, Magne- 
sium, Iron and Manganese. — In some well 



WATER SUPPLY 




1 Coagulating Basins with Filter House on Left, Cincinnati, O. 2 Filter House Interior, Cincinnati, O 



WATER SUPPLY 




1 Toronto Drifting Sand Filters (view from south west) 

2 Toronto Drifting Sand Filters — Filter Gallery and Filters (looking north) 



54 



WATER SUPPLY 



and other ground waters such minerals as 
salts of calcium, magnesium, iron and 
manganese are found in solution. An ar- 
tificial zeolite, known as ^Permutit,® was pro- 
duced by Dr. Richard Gans and is used to rid 
water of its calcium and magnesium. Caustic 
soda, the silica of sodium, barium carbonate 
and other chemicals are also used for that pur- 
pose. The Reisert zeolite and other water 
softeners are in use in this and other coun- 
tries. C. P. Hoover and R. D. Scott in Ohio, 
R. N. Kimmard, Dr. Edward Bartow, Samuel 
A. Greeley, Francis G. Wickware and others 
have written on the subject of water softening 
by the <( Permutit® or other processes. There 
is a large plant for softening at Winnepeg, 
Canada, and smaller ones at Oberlin, Ohio, and 
elsewhere in the United States. 

The extraction of iron and manganese has 
also been studied by Dr. Gans, M. S. Apple- 
baum, Dr. H. Luhrig, Frank E. Hale, R. S. 
Weston, F. C. Amsbary and others. _ Plants for 
deferrization of water have been installed at 
Middleboro, Mass., at Rotterdam, at Dresden, 
Breslau and Hamburg in Germany and else- 
where. The process is described in the reports 
of those specialists and is generally effective in 
eliminating those minerals from such waters, 
though there may remain in water pipes the 
crenothrix, cladothrix, clonothrix, chlamydothrix 
and gallionella organisms that flourish in such 
solutions. Karl Kraepelin found 60 species of 
animalcula, infesting the water pipes of Ham- 
burg and known as (( pipe moss" comprising 
sponges, spongilla fluviatilis and lacustris, mo- 
lusca, snails, (( water lice,® asellus aquaticus, 
<( water crabs® {Gammarus pulex) and other 
species. Rotterdam, Boston and Brooklyn have 
encountered troublesome growths in their water 
pipes. 

Minor Processes. — Some of the minor 
processes of purification involve the use of the 
small mechanical filters, consisting of small 
basins of layers of sand, over which gelatinous 
films of aluminum hydrate are found. Water 
passes through these rapidly and the bacteria are 
caught in gelatinous material and removed. 
Such filters are used to clarify muddy waters 
during freshets and in limited areas, where suffi- 
cient land cannot be economically obtained for 
sedimentary and the slow sand filter beds. 
There are several hundred in use in America. 
Where properly constructed and operated, satis- 
factory results are obtained, but they must be 
cleansed twice or more times a day and the 
chemicals used in sterilization are expensive. 
Several such filters, including the Candy and 
Reisert types, are in successful operation. 

The Lawrence filter first installed in the 
United States was the forerunner of other 
mechanical filters, that have proved quite effi- 
cient in purifying municipal water supplies. 

Porcelain Filters.— Prof. Louis Pasteur 
and others have suggested porcelain and baked 
infusorial earth, as additional safeguards, but 
the necessity of their frequent sterilization 
and the cost of such filters render them im- 
practicable for general water-supply purposes. 
Bacteriologists now contend that microbes are 
propagated in and are not eliminated by porce- 
lain filters. There are other minor processes for 
the purification of water, such as granular bed 
filters, charcoal filters, porous wall filters Berke- 



feld system, Maignen method and the boiling 
of water. None of these processes are efficient 
in disposing of all the pathogenic bacteria. 
Some of these, such as B. anthracis and its 
spores, B. typhosus and others, are very per- 
sistent and live a long time in water. H. D. 
Fisher, Prof. John Tyndall and French and 
German bacteriologists have insisted that the 
boiling of water at 212° F. does not destroy 
the spore-bearing bacteria, though it may and 
does destroy many other species. 

Collection, t Impounding and Distribution of 
Water Supplies. 

In the collection, impounding and distribu- 
tion of water for water-supply purposes, a 
few systems will suffice to illustrate how many 
operate. As already stated, many communities 
obtain their supply from ground waters by 
means of wells and springs. 

Batavia in the East Indies, notorious for its 
unhealthfulness, supplies its 240,000 inhabitants 
from ordinary wells. Many ground waters are 
polluted by surface waters. 

Amsterdam derives its supply from open 
canals containing the waters collected from sand 
dunes and also from the river Vecht. Such 
waters are filtered. Antwerp derives its sup- 
ply from polluted river water, which is treated 
and also filtered. 

Rotterdam obtains its supply from Maas 
(Rhine), which is then filtered. 

_ Magdeburg and Altona obtain their sup- 
plies from the Elbe, which are treated and 
filtered. Breslau obtains its supply from the 
Oder, Budapest from the Danube, Petrograd 
from the Neva, and Warsaw from the Weich- 
sel River. All such raw waters are filtered 
and some, or all of them, treated with germi- 
cidal disinfectants. 

Constantinople obtains its supply from 
streams, springs and forest catchment areas, 
where the waters are collected in impounding 
reservoirs and conducted in aqueducts to the 
city. 

Damascus obtains its supply from the Abana 
River through conduits, which also convey 
water for power purposes. See Syria in article 
on Rainfall. 

Jerusalem obtains its water from springs, 
cisterns and pools, fed by conduits bringing 
water from Ain Saleh and other distant 
springs. Water from the Virgin Fountain 
flows through a tunnel to the Pool of Siloam. 

In Phoenicia near Tyre were waterworks, 
consisting of towers, into which the artesian 
well waters flowed upward to a height of 
20 feet or more above ground. Those waters 
were then conducted into reservoirs for the 
supply of that ancient port. 

Berlin, Germany, obtains most of its water 
from deep boreholes near the shores of Lake 
Tegel, an expansion of the Havel River, and 
from Lake Muggel, one of the expansions of 
the Spree. These contain some iron in solu- 
tion, as do most ground waters of Germany. 
It also obtains part of its supply from wells, 
since it has succeeded in eliminating iron from 
its ground waters. 

The Spree was said to contain 2,500,000 more 
bacteria per cubic centimeter below Berlin 
than it contained above Berlin. 

In 1878 crenothrix was found in the raw 



WATER SUPPLY 



55 



water of the Spree and in wells at Charlotten- 
burg. Dr. Richard Gans' new method and Herr 
Piefke's process were used to eliminate the 
iron and the bacteria, such as crenothrix and 
other micro-organisms dependent thereon. There 
are 60 or more sand niters with an aggregate 
area of 35 or more acres and other processes 
used to purify daily 66,000,000 gallons of 
water which is pumped into the city. The 
bacterial reduction in 1900 was from 896 to 
27 per cubic centimeter in Muggelsee Works 
and from 345 to 22 per cubic centimeter 
in the Tegeler Works. There the death 
rate from typhoid fever and other diseases 
traceable to pathogenic bacteria is low. A 
new testing station of its water supply and 
sewage disposal is maintained in Berlin. In 
1911 Berlin daily consumed 22 gallons for each 
of its 2,200,000 inhabitants. One of the most 
extensive plants in ( Germany for removing 
iron from ground water is that at Erlenstegen 
for removing the iron from the ground water 
supply of Nuremberg. Munich obtains its water 
supply chiefly from spring and infiltration gal- 
leries constructed in the layers of sand and 
gravel in the western slopes of the Alps. Those 
galleries of concrete in some parts intercept 
the flow of ground waters. The water so col- 
lected is conducted to the city, which in 1911 
consumed daily 57 gallons for each of its 571,- 
000 inhabitants. 

Hamburg obtained its water from the river 
Elbe and prior to the epidemic of Asiatic 
cholera in 1892, that water was unfiltered. In 
1893 a municipal filtering plant was installed. 
Later a deferrization plant was also installed 
there. In 1913 Hamburg daily consumed 37 
gallons for each of its 977,000 inhabitants. 
Double filtration is employed in Altona, Bremen 
and Schiedam. 

Vienna obtains its supply of pure water 
through masonry-arched aqueducts, whose in- 
terior measurements are 0.84 by 0.93 meters 
from springs 913 feet and 1,196 feet, respec- 
tively, above sea-level and about 400 feet to 600 
feet above distributing reservoirs in the city 
and from ground waters in the Schneeberg 
region 59 miles distant in the Alps, and from 
ether springs and the Salza River, 114 miles 
distant. These are gravity systems, but in the 
city some pumping is necessary to fill the high- 
est service reservoirs about 550 feet above sea- 
level. Since its introduction and the use of 
steiilizing agencies typhoid has nearly disap- 
peared. Such Alpine sources, however, are 
quite devoid of pathogenic bacteria. In 1914 
Vienna consumed 25 gallons per day for each 
of its 2,066,000 inhabitants. 

Rome for centuries has obtained its water 
supply from the Tiber and springs along its 
left bank and later from such Apennine sources 
as the Appia, the Anio Vetus, Aqua Tepula and 
Lacus Alsictinus and from such springs as fed 
the' Aqua Virgo, Aqua Marcia and Aqua Claudia 
and from the Rivus Herculaneus. The Aquia 
Trajana drew its waters from springs west of 
Lacus Sabalinus, whose polluted waters con- 
taminated those of the aqueduct. Aqua Alex- 
andria drew its waters from springs that now 
supply Aqua Felice. The Aqua Marcia drew 
its waters from numberless springs, discovered 
by Marcius in 145 B.C. Most . of the longer 
aqueducts were partially subterranean and some 
have entirely disappeared. 



From ( The Aqueducts of Ancient Rome,* 
by John Henry Parker, the following important 
facts are derived as to the water supply of 
Rome, one of the problems for engineers to 
solve. 

In the time of Nerva and Trajan from 94 to 
107 a.d. _ Sextus Julius Frontinus was water 
commissioner of Rome and has left a report 
of some of its remarkable works. At that time 
he says nine aqueducts entered the city, namely, 
(i) Aqua Appia; (n) Aqua Vetus; (in) Aqua 
Marcia; (iv) Aqua Tepula; (v) Aqua Julia; 
(vi) Aqua Virgo; (vn) Aqua Alsietina; (vm) 
Aqua Claudia, and (ix) Aqua Novus. Seven 
were constructed later, namely, (x) Aqua Sab- 
batina, a.d. 110; (xi) Aqua Trajana, a.d. 120; 
(xn) Aqua Aurelia, a.d. 185; (xm) Aqua 
Severiana, a.d. 190; (xiv) Aqua Antoniniana, 
a.d. 215; (xv) Aqua Alexandriana, a.d. 225; 
(xvi) Aqua Algentiana, a.d. 300. In the Middle 
Ages two more were constructed, namely, (xvn) 
Aqua Carbra and Marrana, a.d. 1124, and (xvni) 
Aqua Felice. Some of these are also known by 
other names, namely (vn) Aqua Claudia as 
Cerulea; (ix) Aqua Novus as Attica; (xvn) 
Aqua Crabra and Marrana as Herculea; (i) 
Aqua Appia as Augustea; (ix) Aqua Claudia, 
or (x) Sabbatina as Ciminia and Cloaca 
Maxima as Damnata, which forms the lake of 
Curtius. 

The Roman engineers so constructed con- 
duits that they had frequent openings and 
angular turns with possible intercepting bars 
or baffles to check the flow of matter in sus- 
pension and thereby rid the water of some of 
its impurities, which, except those brought by 
the Paola (or ancient Sabatina) aqueduct, were 
few on account of its Apennine and other 
sources. There were many piscines or castella 
aquce or reservoirs, where sedimentation and 
some filtration took place and visible foreign 
matter was removed. The Romans had many 
thermae and fully understood the importance of 
pure water. The Piscina Mirabilis at Baise is 
we'll preserved, which place the author visited 
in 1905. 

William P. Mason in his ( Water Supply* 
quotes a passage from Pliny's c Natural His- 
tory* which has been translated as follows : 
(( Among the blessings conferred on the city 
by the bounty of the gods is the water of the 
Marcia, the cleanest of all the waters in the 
world, distinguished for coolness and salubrity. 8 
The Romans had such baths as those of Cara- 
calla, Diocletian and Titus where they repaired 
for hot and cold baths, for hygienic exercises 
and where they engaged in the discussion of 
political, philosophical and other topics. They 
gave much consideration to their water supply. 
They built aqueducts to bring water from dis- 
tant mountain sources, that have been the ad- 
miration of later ages. Modern Rome has a 
daily supply of 65,000,000 gallons obtained 
largely through the Vergine, Felice, Paolo and 
Pia (or ancient Marcia) aqueducts and from 
springs. The Vergine aqueduct is 11.8 miles 
long and daily conveys its 14.08 million gallons 
of spring water 79 feet above sea-level, dis- 
charging it in Rome 66 feet above sea level. 
The Felice aqueduct daily conveys its 4.4 mil- 
lion gallons of spring water, the intake being 
217 feet above sea-level, 22 miles from Rome, 
the aqueduct running over arches 6.25 miles and 



56 



WATER SUPPLY 



the remainder of the distance underground 
and delivers its waters 202 feet above sea-level. 
The Paolo aqueduct daily draws 17.6 million 
gallons from Lake Bracciano, 538 feet above 
sea-level and from springs in Manziano, Brac- 
ciano and Ficarello 32.33 miles from Rome and 
delivers its supply partly in Rome at an eleva- 
tion of 246 feet above sea-level to supply the 
fountains of the Piazza Saint Pietro and partly 
to supply the town of Leonina. The Pia or 
Marcia aqueduct, 33 miles long, is fed by a 
number of springs near Subiaco 1,000 feet above 
sea-level. It follows that valley of the Anio to 
Tivoli and conveys 27 or more million gallons 
daily into the ancient Varo reservoir, having a 
capacity of 214,000 gallons and being 578 feet 
above sea-level, and thence to Rome. The water 
is conducted through three cast-iron pipes 24 
inches in diameter into different parts of Rome. 
It also derives some of its waters from springs 
nearer Rome than the above sources. Its nu- 
merous fountains are supplied with waters con- 
ducted through some of the old aqueducts, 
whose names have undergone some change, as 
above stated, in consequence of the discovery 
of additional sources by various emperors and 
the connection thereof with the old aqueducts. 
The poorer qualities of water were used for 
fountains, public baths and other non-potable 
municipal purposes. 

In 1900 some of the waters in their natural 
state carried too large a number of bacteria for 
safety, but since that time it is possible that 
some of the recent processes of purification 
may have been utilized. The ozone process is 
adequate to rid such waters of their pathogenic 
germs. In 1911 modern Rome daily consumed 
120 gallons of water for each of its 
542,000 inhabitants. During the Roman era it 
consumed approximately 32,000,000 gallons daily. 
The remains of Roman aqueducts still exist in 
Asia Minor, Algeria, France, Spain and else- 
where, showing that the Romans took great 
pains and went to great expense to provide their 
cities with the best natural waters obtainable. 
Some of the aqueducts were of superb con- 
struction, as were the Pont-du-Gard, the aque- 
duct at Segovia and the Aqua Claudia, extend- 
ing along the Roman Campagna. 

Naples obtains its supply in part from 
ground waters collected in filtration galleries 
2.000 feet or more in length, constructed in a 
stratum of gravel 30 feet below the surface, 
wherein are daily collected 38,000,000 gallons. 
Five parallel tunnels have been formed in the 
old quarries of Capodimonte for impounding 
snch waters. The Apulian aqueduct in the 
southeastern part of Italy is of masonry con- 
struction for 151 miles. Its main trunk line and 
lateral branches altogether are 1,690 miles in 
length. Its waters supply 152 service reser- 
voirs and nearly 2,000,000 of people. Italy has 
both the Alps and the Apennines to intercept 
the vapor-laden clouds, whose waters supply 
its many streams and its dense population. 

Paris has two general systems for supplying 
water under different pressures, namely, (1) 
a high-pressure system for its domestic or 
potable supply, (2) a low-pressure system for 
industrial, street-cleaning and general municipal, 
other than potable purposes. 

1. Paris obtains its high-pressure supply for 



domestic purposes from four sources, namely, 
(a) from the springs that are tributaries of 
the Vanne River 108 miles distant, conducted 
through the Vanne aqueduct into the two-story 
reservoir at Montrouge 262 feet above sea- 
level; (b) from springs that are tributaries to 
the Loing and Lunain rivers, whose waters are 
conducted through the Loing and Lunain aque- 
duct into the Monsouris reservoir (that sup- 
ply and the Syphon aqueduct are described and 
illustrated in ( La Derivation du Sources du 
Loing et du Lunnain > par Bechmann et Babinet, 
published at Paris 1905) ; (c) from the Dhuis 
springs 82 miles distant, flowing from the east 
through the Dhuis aqueduct into reservoirs at 
Menilmontant having an elevation of 354 feet 
above the sea, and (d) an additional supply 
for domestic purposes from the springs of the 
Avre, 63 miles west of the city, flowing through 
an aqueduct into Saint Cloud reservoir. Dur- 
ing the World War the Dhuis supply was cut 
off and the demands on the other sources were 
greatly increased. 

2. Paris obtains its low-pressure supply for 
industrial and general municipal, other than 
potable, purposes from the Seine pumped at 
Ivry and at other places on that river and 
from the Marne at Saint Maur and from the 
Ourcq Canal and from artesian wells, and 
water is also obtained through the Arcueil 
aqueduct from Rungis. 

The works at Saint Maur include sedimenta- 
tion basins, sand filters, ozone sterilizers and 
a bacteriological laboratory. In pre-war 1914 
conditions, the raw Marne water carried 
12,000 B. coli per cubic centimeter. After 
passing the sand filters these were reduced to 
300, which disappeared as the water passed 
through the ozone sterilizers. An additional 
supply for domestic purposes was found neces- 
sary and river water was thoroughly treated, 
purified and used. The entire supply for do- 
mestic and potable purposes before the World 
War was about 40 gallons per day for each 
resident of the city. The supply for other mu- 
nicipal purposes is three times per capita the 
amount used for domestic and potable pur- 
poses. Since the World War, the Marne and 
other rivers in northeastern France, in which 
are countless human remains, have carried a 
great increase of pathogenic and other bacteria. 
The water supply of the entire war zone has 
been polluted. 

The ozone treatment was so successful at 
Saint Maur that it was adopted by the mu- 
nicipality of Paris to purify the water of the 
Seine, taken to supplement its general mu- 
nicipal water supply. Miquel in 1896 found 300 
bacteria per cubic centimeter in the Seine above 
Paris and Clichy found 200,000 bacteria per 
cubic centimeter in the Seine below Paris. 

The Belleville reservoir has two stories. 
The upper receives water from the Dhuis aque- 
duct and the lower from the river. The Mont- 
rouge receives water from the Vanne aqueduct 
into its upper stories and water from the river 
into its lower story. The Montmartre reservoir 
receives spring water into its three upper stories 
and river water into its lower story. 

The water supply of the city of London is 
obtained from the yield of the watersheds of 
the Thames, the Lea and the New River, com- 
prising an area of 620 square miles and from 



WATER SUPPLY 



57 



springs and many wells in those watersheds 
and in the chalk deposits of Kent. Formerly 
eight or more companies pumped the water 
from the Thames, the Lea and the New rivers 
and from springs and wells into 65 or more 
reservoirs. Some of the principal ones were 
included in the works of the New River Com- 
pany, the East London Waterworks Company, 
The Southwark and Vauxhall Water Company, 
the Company of the West Middlesex Works, 
the Company of Proprietors of Lambeth Water- 
works, The Governor and Company of Chelsea 
Waterworks, The Grand Junction Waterworks 
Company, The Company and Proprietors of 
the Kent Waterworks and The Staines Reser- 
voirs Joint Committee, supplying Kempton Park 
reservoir. In the literature on the subject these 
legal titles are omitted and the popular names 
of the particular companies are used. 

From the Thames above its tidal flow and 
above Teddington lock, 185^4 million gallons 
were available, from the Lea all its flow except 
5,400,000 gallons left for navigation and from 
the New River 22y 2 million gallons were 
pumped. Upward of 33,000,000 gallons were 
obtained from springs and wells. In 1900 Lon- 
don consumed 226.000,000 gallons of water 
daily, which was distributed through 3,500 miles 
of pipes. The Thames, the Lea and the New 
rivers 20 years ago were subject to pollution 
from the inflowing surface waters, and their 
filtered waters as well as waters obtained from 
wells contained from 15 to 100 bacteria per 
cubic centimeter. In 1902 an act was passed 
creating the Metropolis Water Board. It was 
authorized to acquire the properties of the eight 
or more water companies above named and to 
enforce rigid regulations for the protection 
from pollution of the sources of London's 
water supply. Royal commissions investigated 
and reported on the purity of the supply, and 
out of the 294 experiments made by Dr. A. C. 
Houston in 1907-08, not a bacillus typhosus was 
isolated, though millions of bacteria were dis- 
covered, the Lea being most heavily laden with 
them. 

The Metropolitan Water Board was created 
by the act of 1907. That board took over the 
properties and facilities of the Metropolis Water 
Board. The New Works Act of 1911, author- 
ized the Metropolitan Water Board to construct 
large storage reservoirs at Staines, Laleham 
and Shepperton. New service reservoirs were 
constructed on Horseendon Hill, Greenford and 
on Barn Hill. 

In January 1913 the Metropolitan Water 
Board, through the various intakes, drew daily 
from the Thames 132,859,184 gallons and from 
the Lea 55,300,700 gallons and from springs 
and wells 36,712,390 gallons and from ponds 
203,600 gallons. The aggregate of that supply 
was 225,075,874 gallons, which was at the rate 
of 33.44 gallons per person. New reservoirs 
are being constructed to provide additional 
v aters and the daily consumption in 1918 was 
reported at 39 gallons per capita for a total 
population of 6,783,897. 

Parliament has passed several acts for the 
conservancy of the waters of the Thames, Lea, 
New and other rivers and has empowered 
boards and commissions to take such action as 
may be necessary to protect the waters of said 
rivers from pollution by regulating the uses 



of their watersheds and otherwise by enforcing 
sanitary ordinances on the part of cities, towns 
and villages. 

Most thorough and exhaustive investigations 
have been made in both London and Paris to 
ascertain the quality and the bacteria in the 
raw waters, which are the sources of supply 
for those cities and every precaution is taken 
to rid all such potable waters of their pathogenic 
species. 

The official reports of Dr. A. C. Houston, 
director of the Metropolitan Water Board, over 
a series of years and of his skilled staff of 
experts at London are exhaustive. They show 
all phases of the water supply of London, in- 
cluding its sources, amount, quality, bacteriolog- 
ical and chemical tests, the processes for its 
purification, the results obtained, its distribu- 
tion and all other conditions incidental thereto. 
In his official report for 1913 Dr. Houston said 
that (( about eighty percent of the London Water 
Supply is derived from rivers polluted directly 
or indirectly with sewage, . . . that the three 
factors of sedimentation, devitalization and 
equalization are indeed of supreme importance 
in connection with the storage of impure water 
antecedent to its filtration. . . . The practice 
of occasionally ( dragging > or ( raking ) the sur- 
face of the filter beds to increase the yield of 
water or to prolong their working periods 
should be discontinued altogether, or only re- 
sorted to under quite exceptional circumstances. 
. . . Over eight years' work on the London 
water question has convinced me that to a 
progressively increasing extent the Water Board 
are securing the reasonable if not absolute 
< safety > of the Metropolitan Water Supply. 
This opinion will carry the more weight since 
I have been, and still remain, a somewhat merci- 
less critic of any imperfections in processes of 
water purification. ... As a counsel of per- 
fection, I still feel bound to advocate the choice 
of an initially pure source of water supply; but 
my own results and experiments do seem to 
indicate clearly that the evil effects even of an 
impure source can be largely, if not entirely, 
annulled by adequate storage and efficient filtra- 
tion. ... In conclusion, my opinion is that the 
(quality policy ) of the Metropolitan Water 
Board should be directed towards securing an 
( epidemiologically sterile* water (i.e., a water 
containing none of the microbes associated with 
waterborne epidemic disease) antecedent to fil- 
tration by means of storage (sedimentation, 
devitalization and equalization) aided, if need 
be, by the occasional employment of supple- 
mentary processes of water purification." 

For the years 1906-13 the average number 
of microbes per cubic centimeter as reported 
by Dr. Houston in raw Thames water were 
4,894, in the raw Lea water were 13,293 and 
in the raw New River water were 2,081. 

He also reported that by the processes of 
subsidence and filtrations the number in raw 
Thames water was reduced from 5,250 to 16.1 
per cubic centimeter, in raw Lea water from 
9,263 to 30.9 per cubic centimeter and in the raw 
New River water from 2,172 to 14.1 per cubic 
centimeter. In all these cases the reduction was 
upward of 99 per cent. The filtered waters 
from Kent had but 7 microbes per cubic centi- 
meter and there were in the Chelsea filtered 
supply only 7.3 microbes per cubic centimeter. 



58 



WATER SUPPLY 



Dr. Houston in his report for 1913 also 
stated that (( The striking fact has been shown 
in my last reports that London is not really 
drinking merely filtered raw river water but 
raw river water, which by storage processes 
has been purified bacteriologically antecedent to 
filtration to a reasonable extent. . . . When 
it is remembered 90.5 per cent of the samples 
of raw Thames contain typical B. coli in each 
cubic centimetre and that 84.8 per cent of the 
samples of raw Lea water also contains typical B. 
coli in each cubic centimetre, the transformation 
which the river water has undergone previous to 
filtration becomes strikingly apparent. }> Dr. 
Houston strongly advises storage preliminary 
to filtration and storage he says means sedi- 
mentation, devitalisation and equalization. 
Nearly the entire supply for London is stored 
antecedent to filtration. Dr. Houston also stated 
that (( 99.9 per cent of the typhoid bacilli could 
not be recovered after one week. 8 

Down to 1913 storage and sand filters had 
efficiently purified the waters used for potable 
purposes in London. Dr. Houston, however, 
in his report for the year recommended sup- 
plementary processes of purification. Since 1917 
the entire water supply of London has been 
treated with chlorine. Before filtration, it re- 
ceives a dose of calcium hypochlorite. Slow- 
sand filters are now used at the various works. 

The twelfth annual report of Director Hous- 
ton for the year 1917-18, contains an exhaustive 
report of chlorination, super-chlorination and 
de-chlorination experiments with 224 micro- 
photographs. 

The thirteenth annual report of the director 
for the year ending 31 March 1919, discusses the 
scientific results of the chlorination of the 
Thames and New River raw river waters and 
chlorination in relation to filtration and the 
condition of the raw and filtered waters. On 
31 March 1919, the equipment of the London 
water supply under the Metropolitan Water 
Board comprised 48 storage reservoirs with a 
total capacity of 1,981,500,000 gallons and 86 
service reservoirs for filtered water with a 
capacity of 310,900,000 gallons and its 172 filter 
beds had a total area of 170.7 acres. 

Liverpool obtains its supply from wells, 
from eight impounding reservoirs in the water- 
shed, Ravington having a capacity of 4.1 billion 
gallons and from the impounding reservoir, 
the largest in Europe, 825 feet above sea-level, 
formed by a dam 1,172 feet long and 84 feet 
high across the valley of the Vyrnwy River, 
formerly a glacial lake in north Wales, having 
a capacity of 12 1/7 billion gallons. The im- 
pounded waters from the Ravington reservoirs 
are delivered through a 44-inch cast-iron pipe 
24^ miles long to Liverpool and from Vyrnwy 
reservoir through a 39-inch cast-iron pipe 63 
miles long and a tunnel 4 miles long to Pres- 
cott reservoir at Liverpool. The water is 
filtered through sand filters and otherwise 
treated. Upward of 38,000,000 gallons are con- 
sumed daily in Liverpool, which is at the rate 
of 40 gallons per capita per day. An additional 
reservoir has been constructed near Malpas and 
a high-level tank has been built at Woolton 
Hill. 

Manchester obtains its water supply from 
the elevated Longdendale watershed with seven 
or more impounding reservoirs along the 



Elherow River and from Lake Thirlmere 2Y\ 
miles long and 533 above sea-level in the north- 
western part of England. The outlet of th2 
lake is closed by a masonry structure 857 
feet long and 104^ feet high from the low- 
est part of the gorge outlet. That enlarges 
the lake to three and one-fourth miles in length 
and gives it a capacity of eight and one-seventh 
billion gallons. The aqueduct leading to the city 
is 95 miles long and carries 50,000,000 gallons 
per day. The storage reservoirs of Manchester 
have a capacity of upward of 41,000,000 gallons. 
Its daily consumption is 40 gallons per capita 
and aggregates 50,000,000 gallons. A third con- 
duit has recently been constructed from the 
lake to the city. 

Birmingham, England, formerly obtained its 
water supply from five local streams and eight 
wells. From these the water was pumped into 
six service reservoirs at different elevations and 
into a stand-pipe. All such waters were filtered. 
In 1900 there were 12 sand filter beds with a 
total area of eight and one-fourth acres. In 
1892 Parliament authorized Birmingham to draw 
an additional supply from Elan and Claerwen 
rivers in Wales. It constructed six long reser- 
voirs by building masonry dams across the 
narrow valleys of those rivers, one of which 
dams was 600 feet long and some were more 
than 100 feet in height above the bed of the 
gorges so closed. They had a combined ca- 
pacity of 18,000,000,000 gallons. There were 
also constructed 30 filter beds for the filtration 
of all such waters. This improvement contem- 
plated a supply of 75,000,000 gallons a day for 
service in addition to 27,000,000 gallons to com- 
pensate for losses to riparian operators along 
the Wye. 

The water flows by gravity through the Elan 
aqueduct 73.3 miles to Birmingham. From the 
elevated sources to the high service reservoirs 
in Birmingham there is a fall of 170 feet. 

In 1913 there were consumed 27,471,991 
-gallons daily, which was an average of 32.24 
gallons for each resident. 

Glasgow obtains its water supply from Brock 
Burn six miles from the city through its Gorbals 
works into four impounding reservoirs, having 
a combined capacity of 1,000,000,000 gallons or 
more and also from Loch Katrine 364 feet 
above sea-level, having a storage capacity of 
five and two-thirds billion gallons. The water 
was conducted by gravity through aqueducts 
and tunnels 27 miles to Mugdock and Craig- 
maddie reservoirs, having a combined capacity of 
one and one-fifth billion gallons. Reservoirs 
have been constructed in the valley of the Teith 
to compensate for waters drawn by the city. 
In 1895 it was decided to connect by the tunnel 
Loch Arklet 455 feet above sea-level with Loch 
Katrine and raise the outlet of the latter five 
feet and thereby secure a storage capacity of 
2.05 billion gallons in the two lochs. An ad- 
ditional reservoir with a capacity of 694,000,- 
000 gallons has been constructed. In 1913-14 
Glasgow daily consumed 75 gallons per capita 
or an aggregate of 85,000,000 gallons. 

Edinburgh obtains its water supply from the 
Esk, the water of Leith and from the streams 
fed by the Pentlands, the Moorfoot Hills and 
from Talla Water reservoir. Talla Water is an 
affluent of the River Tweed. 

In 1913 the daily consumption of water in 



WATER SUPPLY 



59 



Edinburgh and Leith was 56 gallons per 
capita. 

The Derwent Valley Water Supply under 
an Act of Parliament, is distributed to Derby, 
Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield, the ex- 
pense of which is borne by said several cor- 
porations in proportion to their several 
allotments or percentages of water consumed, 
all drawing from the same source, made avail- 
able by their joint effort. That plan might be 
carried out in other countries where a common 
supply may be available for several munici- 
palities. 

In 1907 the Earl of Cromer reported that 
the Assouan reservoir would supply one-fourth 
of all the water needed in Egypt. That water 
flowed from the upper Nile 1,800 miles to 
reach Egypt. The evaporation in those torrid 
and tropical regions was 103,000,000 cubic 
meters out of 2,300,000,000 cubic meters of sup- 
ply and the loss by absorption and filling the 
Nile trough was 260,000,000 cubic meters, 
and the consumption in middle Egypt was 850,- 
000,000 cubic meters, which left only 1,087,000,- 
000 cubic meters for use in Lower Egypt at 
Cairo. That statement shows the great losses 
of river or canal waters due to evaporation and 
percolation or absorption. Under all conditions 
they are factors to be considered in determin- 
ing the amount of water supply for a com- 
munity. Long before the Assouan reservoir 
was constructed, Jacob had dug a well near the 
site of Cairo and still earlier the Fayum depres- 
sion was embanked and Lake Moeris was 
formed, around whose shores were settlements 
from the Neolithic age down through many 
centuries. 

In 1914 Cairo used for all purposes an 
amount equivalent to 25 gallons for each of its 
700,000 residents. Its water is clarified by 
passing it through rapid sand filters. Alex- 
andria has a similar plant of 12,000,000 gallons 
daily capacity, where sulphate of aluminum is 
used as a coagulant. 

The importance of wholesale water supplies 
to communities cannot be too emphatically 
stated, when we recall the ravages of diseases 
due to the contaminated water supplies in 
India. Prior to the British sovereignty of that 
Peninsula nearly all well, river and surface 
waters were unfit for potable purposes. Con- 
ditions there were appalling. The waters of 
the Indus, the sacred Ganges, the Brahmaputra 
and of all other rivers were laden with 
putrescent matter and some with decomposing 
human remains. Even the wells were con- 
taminated and the thousands of reservoirs and 
tanks were used as bathing pools by thousands 
of dust begrimed and filthy pilgrims in their 
annual tours of parts of India. They were 
ignorant of the laws of health and oblivious of 
all hygienic and sanitary regulations. That was 
the commencement of water purification in 
central India. There are now many sand 
filtration plants in India. 

The Hindus were enjoined to drink the 
water of the Ganges, as a sacred duty. Cholera 
and otjher deadly epidemics depopulated whole 
districts. When the British officials began to 
exercise authority, they undertook to remedy 
conditions wherever they were able so to do, 
but the superstition and prejudices of the 



natives were such under their Indian cults, that 
progress was slow. 

In 1893, the Balram Dass Waterworks were 
constructed at Raipur in the central provinces. 
Those consisted of an infiltration gallery 
100 feet from and paralleling the Karoun 
River whose level was raised at that point six 
feet by a dam and its waters percolated the 
intervening sand layers and weeped through 
holes into the gallery. Thence they were 
pumped up through a conduit of masonry and 
cut through the rock into tanks for distribu- 
tion. The supply was six and one-half gallons 
a day per capita. Consult Vol. 143 of Pro- 
ceedings of Institution of Civil Engineers, pp. 
262 et seq., London. 

In 1901 the British favored the construction 
of works for the extension of irrigation from 
47,000,000 to 53,500,000 acres. 

In 1905 to 1912, they aided in the con- 
struction of the Punjab Triple Canal system, 
which had an excellent effect upon the quality 
of flowing water for the thousands dependent 
thereon for drinking purposes. Consult Vol. 
.201 of Proceedings of Institution of Civil 
Engineers, pp. 24 et seq. 

Prior thereto the inhabitants in that part 
of India obtained their supply from polluted 
ponds and other unwholesome sources. The 
irrigation works of India are extensive and 
have done something to relieve the deplorable 
conditions of the millions untutored in frygienic 
science. All such Indian watercourses as the 
extensive Punjab Triple Canal system, the 
Bengal system, the Madras canals, the Ganges 
and the Indus systems supplied waters for ir- 
rigation and formerly to some extent waters 
for navigation. In a land of such intense heat 
and extensive barren areas, most of such water- 
courses supplied all the water obtainable for 
potable as well as for all other purposes. 
Slowly the people of the peninsula are begin- 
ning to understand some of the causes of the 
cholera, typhoid and other fatal epidemics that 
have swept over India from the Buddhist 
period, commencing 520 B.C. down to recent 
years. Who can estimate India's mortality 
directly attributable to its pathogenic-bacteria- 
polluted water supplies? What costly sacri- 
fices the race has made to its ignorance of and 
failure to observe the laws of health ! Polluted 
waters are disease producers, as unfailing as 
the forces of gravity on falling bodies. India 
with its dense population and appalling pesti- 
lential epidemics is an inimitable example of 
the dreadful results of the use of unwhole- 
some waters for domestic and potable pur- 
poses. Modern modification processes have 
been installed in its principal cities and ports, 
so the danger of infection in those towns is 
constantly lessening. In 1914 Bombay consumed 
27 gallons, and Calcutta 62 gallons daily 
per capita. In the waterworks of Calcutta 
alumino-ferric is used as a purifier, which is an 
impure sulphate of aluminum. That is gen- 
erally used as a coagulant elsewhere in India. 
Mechanical filters at Betmangula, India, re- 
duced the bacteria in Palar River water from 
4,350 to 13 per cubic centimeter. The train- 
ing of some of the river courses, such as the 
Rangoon, has resulted in the improvement of 
their waters for domestic uses. Gradually the 
people arc beginning to realize the importance 



60 



WATER SUPPLY 



of preserving their streams and watercourses, 
including reservoirs, tanks, etc., from pollution. 

China and Japan in the past centuries were 
hardly less oblivious of hygienic and sanitary 
laws, though less frequently swept by epidemics 
attributable to waterborne diseases. The 
Chinese obtain their water supplies from wells, 
springs and their rivers. There appears to be 
some natural purification of their waters and 
less human pollution of them. They are ac- 
customed to boil their drinking water and that 
disposes of many bacteria. 

Japan is abundantly supplied with lakes, 
rivers and waterfalls and is fast advancing in 
sanitary science. It has already commenced to 
adopt some western methods for the purifica- 
tion of its water supplies. George A. Johnson 
of the United State Geological Survey says: 
That (( the water purification works at Osaka, 
Japan, having a daily capacity of 25,000,000 
gallons, include open sedimentation basins and 
also sand filters. )} One was completed in 1903. 
Bacteria in \odo River water were reduced 
from 200 to 25 per cubic centimeter. There is 
also a slow sand filtration plant at Yokohama, 
whose water supply is taken from the Sagami- 
gawa. Water purification is also effected to 
some extent in Tokio, where were consumed 
in 1914, daily 32 gallons by each of its 1,500,000 
residents. It takes its water from the river 
Tama into the city reservoir at Yodobashi, 
located high enough to afford nearly 100 feet 
pressure. There potash alum was used as a 
purifier. At Kyoto there is a large rapid sand 
filtration plant. 

Melbourne in Australia derives its water 
supply from the Yan Yean system, consisting 
of Silver Creek, Wallaby Creek and the 
Plenty watershed yielding 33,000,000 gallons 
daily and from the Maroondah or Watts River 
system yielding 25,000,000 gallons daily, and 
from Survey Hills yielding 9,000,000 gallons 
daily. There are six service reservoirs with a 
combined capacity of 45,000,000 gallons. The 
daily supply in 1905 was 63 gallons per capita. 
In 1899 the waters in the service reservoirs 
and mains carried from 146 to 398 bacteria per 
cubic centimeter. B. coli were found in some 
reservoirs fed from drainage areas, where there 
was no sewage and other micro-organisms were 
also found. That shows how prevalent they 
may be when least expected. The presence of 
such bacteria is usually attributable to pol- 
lution by sewage. The obtaining of pure and 
wholesome water is not the least of municipal 
problems nor of rural communities. 

In New South Wales a dozen or more nar- 
now gorges have been dammed and their waters 
impounded for domestic purposes. So in all 
inhabited parts of the world, the problem of 
water supply is of first importance,, and is be- 
coming increasingly so as the population in- 
creases in density. 

Some American City Supplies. — In ad- 
dition to the municipal supplies already men- 
tioned, the following illustrate the methods 
adopted in the United States for obtaining 
wholesome water supplies. 

Boston, Mass., is in the Metropolitan Water 
District, which obtains its supply from lakes 
and rivers, whose waters are impounded in 
reservoirs. Cochituate Lake, Sudbury River 
and the south branch of the Nashua River are 



its principal sources. The first of these com- 
prises a series of ponds three and one-half miles 
long, and their waters flow through an aque- 
duct into Chestnut Hill reservoir, having a 
capacity of 23,000,000 gallons a day. On the 
Sudbury River four storage reservoirs, an 
aqueduct and a conduit were built. They carry 
108,000,000 gallons a day, 15.9 miles to the 
Chestnut Hill reservoir. The waters of the 
south branch of the Nashua are impounded in 
the large Wachusett reservoir, at Clinton, hav- 
ing a capacity of 64,500,000,000 gallons in its 
6.46 square miles of area. It is 12 miles 
from the Sudbury reservoir, into which its 
waters are conducted by the Wachusett 
aqueduct, and from one of the Sudbury 
reservoirs by the Western aqueduct built 
in 1904, to the westerly part of the 
metropolitan district. The daily capacity 
of the Wachusett aqueduct is 300,000,000 
gallons. The site and shores of the Wachusett 
reservoir were stripped and that proved satis- 
factory, for algae and other plant organisms do 
not thrive where rock constitutes the bottom 
and sides of such reservoirs. The water in the 
reservoirs is not polluted and is remarkably 
free of organisms, due to the stripping of the 
sites and the freedom of the catchment areas 
from pollution, except such as are within the 
towns of Marlborough and South Borough. 
Diatomacece have been found in Lake Cochit- 
uate and occasionally small numbers of harm- 
less bacteria in the tap water. 

In the Metropolitan Water District of Bos- 
ton are several other corporations and the sup- 
ply is metred for different uses. 

New York City obtains its water supply 
from six different sources. Those are with 
their respective available daily yields: (1) The 
Croton watersheds with 336,000,000 gallons ; 
(2) The Bronx and Bryan watershed with 
18,000,000 gallons; (3) the Esopus watershed 
with 250,000,000 gallons to be augmented by the 
Schoharie Creek addition of 250,000,000 gal- 
lons ; (4) the Long Island watersheds com- 
prising the Ridgewood and other systems, and 
including Queens (in reserve) with 150,000,000 
gallons; (5) the Staten Island watershed, in 
reserve, with 12,000,000 gallons, and (6) private 
water companies with 34.000,000 gallons. The 
foregoing amounts, except that from Schoharie 
Creek, soon to be added, are given in the in- 
structive paper of Dr. Frank E. Hale, chief 
chemist of the Department of Water Supply, 
Gas and Electricity. No other modern system 
has involved a greater expenditure, except pos- 
sibly that of London, and none is delivering a 
greater quantity unless it be that of Chicago. 
Certainly its quality is as pure and wholesome as 
that of any city in the world. All its catch- 
ment areas are under the supervision of sani- 
tary inspectors and its Catskill supply is largely 
from lands owned and cleared by the city. 
Every precaution has been taken to avoid pol- 
lution of the sources, and some of which are 
in the foot-hills and slopes of mountains. 
Physical, chemical, bacterial and microscopical 
examinations are periodically made of the 
various sources. 

Several modern processes of purification in- 
cluding liquid chlorine at several plants are in 
use. They comprise an aerator at the Ashokan 
icscrvoir, a coagulation plant above the Kensico 



WATER SUPPLY 



61 



reservoir on the Catskill aqueduct, a Dun- 
woodie chlorination plant on the new Croton 
aqueduct, a chlorination plant on the Catskill 
supply below Kensico reservoir, following 
aeration, a slow sand filter plant below Oak- 
land Lake in Queens County, whose bacterial ef- 
ficiency is supplemented by liquid chlorine and 
several slow and several rapid sand filter plants 
located on various conduits of the minor 
sources of supply. One of the latter is at 
Baisley Pond. Micro-organisms which are 
destroyed by treatment with copper sulphate, 
and iron, have been found in some of the 
waters. The processes used have been efficient 
in purifying any waters that have been so in- 
fested. 



and other supplies, including about 96,000,000 
gallons of ground waters from Long Island. 

In 1918 there were daily distributed for all 
purposes in all the boroughs of Greater New 
York approximately 600,000,000 gallons, that be- 
ing a little more than the rate of 100 gallons 
per capita. 

The waters of the Schoharie Creek or water- 
shed are to be impounded in a reservoir at Gil- 
boa dam, and carried in a tunnel 18 miles long 
under the Shandaken Mountains into the upper 
reaches of the Esopus Creek and thence into the 
Ashokan reservoir to double the present (1919) 
supply. When that improvement is completed 
there will be 500 million gallons available a day 
for New York city, from the Catskill and Scho- 



Breakneck 



,-"."■■ ■ ■ ■ 



■/:orm King mi 




''$ 



Fig. 2. 



Bacteria in the waters of the several Croton 
and Catskill aqueducts varied from 17 to 68 per 
cubic centimeter, but chlorination reduced the 
number from 46 to 91 per cent. In 1918 storage 
in the Ashokan reservoir reduced B. coli 99.8 
per cent and other bacteria 69 per cent. Several 
species of Diatomaceo? Cyanophycece, Protozoa 
and Crenothnx have been localized in the 
waters of the New York supply. 

The Esopus supply is from several streams, 
whose waters are conducted into the Ashokan 
reservoir 91 miles northwest of the city and 
thence are conducted in an aqueduct having a 
daily capacity of 500,000,000 gallons down the 
west side and under the Hudson 1,100 feet below 
its surface (Fig. 2) and up to the Kensico 
reservoir, thence to the Hill View reservoir 
with an elevation of 295 feet, which determines 
the ft head ):) of the Catskill supply and thence 
in a tunnel extending down through New York 
City to the distributing reservoirs in the sev- 
eral boroughs. These receive also the Croton 



harie watersheds, having an area of 571 square 
miles. The Ashokan reservoir has an eleva- 
tion of 587 feet above tide-water and its outlet 
is 495.5 feet above tide-water. Its capacity is 
128 billion gallons. The Gilboa reservoir will 
have a capacitv of 20 billion gallons, and has an 
elevation of upwards of 1,100 feet above tide 
water and is 125 miles from New York City. 

Albany takes its supply from the raw Hudson 
River water through screened intakes and passes 
it through two 18-inch inlets and one 36-inch 
inlet into a sedimentation basin. After sedi- 
mentation, it passes roughing filters into the 
slow sand filters where the daily rate of filtra- 
tion is 3,000,000 gallons per acre. It then passes 
into the covered filtered water reservoirs. Its 
capacity is 21,000,000 gallons per day and its 
bacterial efficiency is 99 per cent. The usual bac- 
terial efficiency of slow sand filters ranges from 
98 to 99 per cent. 

Chicago obtains its daily supply of 1,000,000,- 
000 gallons from Lake Michigan, through nine 



WATER SUPPLY 



intake tunnels, reaching seven intake cribs two 
or more miles from shore. 

In 1915 the Chicago Board of Experts re- 
ported that its water from Lake Michigan was 
turbid, polluted and unsafe for drinking pur- 
poses. The opening of the Drainage Canal in 
1901 to send the flow of sewage down the Illi- 
nois River lessened the pollution of near shore 
lake waters, but did not wholly remedy the diffi- 
culty. City sewage still flows to a limited ex- 
tent into the lake and pollution continues. The 
problem is a serious one for Chicago as it_ is 
for all other cities similarly situated. The in- 
takes of other Great Lake cities, however, are 
not so near the effluents of their sewage and 
there is less direct pollution therefrom. Chlori- 
nation was tried in one of the districts in 
Chicago in 1912, and was attended with good 
results, except that during the winter months 
the plant was affected by the severe cold. Un- 
doubtedly Chicago will adopt some modern 
process for the sterilization of its water supply. 

In Milwaukee hypochlorite has been used to 
eliminate gas-forming bacteria from its Lake 
Michigan supply, but such large dosages were 
necessary, that the taste was affected and odors 
were produced. The water before treatment 
contained 2,590 microbes per cubic centimeter. 
Milwaukee's consumption in 1915 was 48,000,000 
gallons a day, which was equivalent to 111 gal- 
Ions per capita. 

Cleveland in 1911 completed its new intake 
and a marked improvement followed. It in- 
stalled a rapid sand filtration plant and also 
used calcium hypochlorite as a germicidal dis- 
infectant. Its supply in 1912 was at the rate 
of 133 gallons per capita a day. 

Superior, Wis., has a slow sand filtration 
plant comprising three units with a total capac- 
ity of 300,000 gallons a day. 

Kansas City, Missouri, obtains its supply 
from the Missouri River at Quindaro above the 
inflowing polluted Kansas River. The raw Mis- 
souri River water is pumped into a reservoir of 
90,000,000 gallons capacity at Quindaro where 
there is preliminary sedimentation. The water 
is thereafter treated with alum and lime. The 
clear water then returns to the pumping station 
and is treated in its passage with calcium hypo- 
chlorite and aerated. It is then pumped into 
Turkey Creek reservoir, where a high pressure 
service is maintained and thence it is let into the 
mains. The raw river water in 1911 contained as 
high as 30,000 B. coli per cubic centimeter and 
they were reduced by such treatment as stated 
to less than 100 per cubic centimeter, which is 
the standard of purity established in 1914 by the 
Treasury Department of the United States Gov- 
ernment. The purification at Kansas City, Mo., 
whereby large colonies of pathogenic bacteria 
in its raw river water supply were eliminated, 
well illustrates how Missouri River water may 
be purified and made safe for potable uses. 

Buffalo obtains its supply from Lake Erie 
and it is purified by chlorination at the intake 
pier in Lake Erie. The daily consumption is 
approximately 125,000,000 gallons. 

New Orleans obtains its supply from the 
Mississippi River. A Sewerage and Water 
Board was created in 1899 and aerial cisterns 
were ordered closed. They were breeding places 
of the stegomyicB which cause yellow fever. In 
1909 a new rapid sand filtration plant was in- 



stalled having a daily capacity of 40,000,000 
gallons and the water was first put through sedi- 
mentation aided by sulphate of aluminum and 
ferrous sulphate as coagulants. In 1910 the rate 
was 5.99 million gallons per acre per day. New 
Orleans has two filter plants, namely the Car- 
rollton Filters and the Algiers Filters. From 
an official report it appears that the rate of 
filtration through the former in 1914, was five- 
fold that of the latter. In 1915 the daily con- 
sumption was 20,000,000 gallons, which was at 
the rate of 57 gallons per capita, 

_ Omaha, Neb., obtains its supply from the 
Missouri River which requires purification. Ac- 
cordingly a series of basins were constructed 
for sedimentation of much of the suspended 
matter. That was accompanied by coagulation 
produced by the use of alum. There is also 
used hypochlorite without filtration. Since the 
installation of the foregoing processes of puri- 
fication, there has been a great reduction in 
typhoid and other diseases produced by patho- 
genic bacteria. 

Pittsburgh obtains its supply from the Alle- 
gheny River, which has several inflowing tribu- 
taries. One of these is the Kiskiminetas which 
receives waste products from oil refineries, tan- 
neries and other plants. The water carries much 
colloidal matter. Its waterworks plant com- 
prises concrete sedimentation basins, holding 
120,000,000 gallons with 24 roughing filters of 
coarse stone and two hollow frame baffles, ex- 
tending the full length of the sedimentation 
basins. These rid the water of much of the 
matter in suspension. It also comprises slow 
sand filters and a covered filtered water reser- 
voir. The plant is unique and illustrates an- 
other type of construction to overcome condi- 
tions quite extraordinary. Its service reservoir 
is at Highland Park 367 feet above the river. 
It has several reservoirs for service in different 
parts of the city. 

Los Angeles formerly obtained its supply 
from ground waters by means of infiltration 
galleries. Its daily consumption was 26,000,000 
gallons. It is soon to obtain its supply from 
Owens Valley where the city owns a large 
catchment area. Long Valley and Tincmaha 
reservoirs are to be constructed with a com- 
bined capacity of 150,500,000,000 gallons. The 
aqueduct consists of open canal sections, ma- 
sonry sections and tunnels and several inter- 
cepting reservoirs, each of many million gallons 
capacity which regulate the flow and develop 
power. It is so constructed that ground water 
near the surface may be pumped into it and 
augment its volume. It has 23 inverted siphons 
and serves both for water supply and power 
purposes and is one of the large water supply 
projects on the Pacific Coast. 

San Diego has a municipal pressure filter 
of 5,000,000 gallons capacity. 

San Francisco is supplied by five independent 
systems owned by a private corporation. The 
waters are drawn from artesian wells. 

In June 1919, Sacramento decided to install 
a modern filtration and pumping plant with fil- 
ter beds of 30,000,000 gallons daily capacity and 
is to use sulphate of aluminum as a coagulant. 
Its water supply is from river water, mountain 
sources and from wells. 

In addition to those already mentioned, puri- 
fication plants have been constructed at Wil- 



WATER SUPPLY 



63 



mington, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, To- 
ledo, Lorain, Youngstown, Louisville, Saint 
Louis, Des Moines, Minneapolis, Grand Rapids, 
Mich., Little Falls, N. J., Harrisburg and 



fected by chlorination and an electrolyser of 
the Allen-Moore cell, adopted by the Montreal 
Water and Power Company. The equipment 
comprises four cells, each having a capacity of 



tn E^ ff'ri^iltiJlSJg 




t^ifn^PfOfn^riiPtOf^r^iiii 1 



EAST ELEVATION 



WATER OUTLET 




FiG. 3. — Toronto Filtration Plant. 



Bethlehem, Pa., Middleboro, Mass., and at 
many other places in the United States and 
other countries. . • 

The water supply in Canada is illustrated m 
the following few cases: 

The Victoria aqueduct conveys waters from 
mountain reservoirs 37 miles away. 

At the present time Winnipeg obtains waters 
that require softening and that involves large 
expense annually. It has recently decided to 
obtain soft water from Shoal Lake, some dis- 
tance away. 

Toronto obtains its supply from Lake On- 
tario. Its filter beds of its slow sand system 
have a capacity of 5,000,000 gallons per acre per 
day. It has recently installed drifting sand fil- 
ters. These consist of 10 units, each having 
a capacity of 6,000,000 gallons daily. In them 
there is a constant vertical circulation of 
water through the filters, so that a part of the 
bed of sand is kept in suspension in the water, 
while some of the sand is being constantly re- 
moved and washed in transit and replaced in 
filters. A coagulant apparatus is attached and 
the coagulant goes directly to the filters. The 
bacteria are caught up and carried along out 
with the drifting sand. The process is rapid 
and may be expensive. The average amount 
of chlorine applied was .2 parts per million in 
1918. In 1911 Toronto daily consumed 118,- 
000,000 gallons. 

Montreal obtains its supply from the Saint 
Lawrence and Ottawa rivers. The waters are 
conducted into the main reservoir 200 feet above 
the Saint Lawrence River. That reservoir has 
a capacity of 36,500,000 gallons. There is an- 
other high service reservoir still higher. Puri- 
fication of the water supply of Montreal is ef- 



32 pounds of chlorine per day. The process 
has been credited with 93 per cent efficiency. 
In 1914 Montreal supplied an amount equivalent 




Fig. 4.— Drifting Sand Filter— Gravity Type. 



WATER SUPPLY 




1 Filter Pipe Gallery, Montebello Filters, Baltimore, Md. 2 Lime Mixers and Lime Tanks, Montebello Filters 



64 



WATER SUPPLY 



to 153 gallons for each of its 600,000 inhab- 
itants. 

The republics of South America are likewise 
appreciating the necessity of providing pure 
water for their inhabitants. In 1867-68, there 
was an epidemic of cholera in Buenos Aires, 
Argentina, which had 1,500 victims, and in 1871 
yellow fever followed, which had 2,600 victims, 
both due to unsanitary water supply. Aroused by 
this condition the city employed eminent engi- 
neers and constructed a system of modern 
waterworks. The city obtains its water from 
the Estuary at Belgrano. It is then conducted 
three and one-half miles to Recoleta, where 
there are settling basins of 12,000,000 gallons 
capacity and six acres of covered filters. The 
filtered water is then pumped to great distrib- 



may understand what is involved in obtaining 
such supplies and the menace to health and to 
life in drinking impure water. 

There is always the possibility that the 
purification of municipal water supplies may 
be incomplete or that contamination may ensue 
from private wells or other auxiliary supplies 
into water mains forbidden in New York ex- 
cept with the approval of the Board of Health 
or may be contamination mav ensue from 
sewage or other subterranean pollution in 
cities, so that pathogenic bacteria may still 
exist in public water supplies, as they may 
exist in well waters and in all other kinds of 
raw waters. Such menace to health may be 
avoided, however, by the installation of ap- 
proved purification processes in private dwell- 




Fig. 5. — Toronto Filtration Plant — General Arrangement of Pipes in Filter House. 



uting reservoirs at Colles Cordoba and Via- 
monte, which cover an area of four acres and 
have a capacity of 13,500,000 gallons. Buenos 
Aires now has a good water supply. Argentina 
is enforcing hygienic regulations in all of its 
coast cities. 

Rio de Janeiro obtains its waters from 
mountain sources. The waters are conducted 
into receiving reservoirs and then are carried 
33 miles from their sources through conduits 
to distributing reservoirs, in the course of which 
there is some purification. 

The foregoing will suffice to show the world- 
wide interest now being taken in water supplies 
and the researches of scientists and efforts that 
have been made and are being put forth by all 
progressive communities to secure for them- 
selves pure and wholesome water for potable 
and other domestic purposes. 

Enough has already been said to demonstrate 
the vital importance of water supplies to com- 
munities and to individuals. In this article the 
problems involved in the construction of water- 
works have not been discussed for they are 
engineering problems and do not come within 
its scope. The larger and more important 
problems of water supplies, however, have 
been presented at some length in order 
that readers of the Encyclopedia Americana 



ings, hotels, hospitals, schools, offices, factories, 
etc. 

The matter is of such transcendent import- 
ance that the Treasury Department of the 
United States Government called together a 
corps of distinguished specialists in 1914, and 
they formulated standards of purity for water 
to be consumed by the public, which was being 
supplied by common carriers in interstate com- 
merce. 

The article is contributed in the hope that it 
may awaken a deeper interest in the subject 
than that taken by individuals and communi- 
ties which have suffered most seriously from 
unwholesome water supplies in the past. 

Bibliography.— Applebaum, S. B., ( Man- 
ganese in Ground Waters and Its Removal > ; 
Binnie, Alexander R., 'Various Articles on 
Hydrology, Rainfall and Water Supply' 
(Rochester, N. Y.) ; Cincinnati, Report on 
Water Purification at> ; De Frise, M., <La 
Sterilization de l'eau par l'ozone ) ; Don and 
Chisholm, 'Modern Methods of Water Puri- 
fication) (London 1911); Ellms, Joseph W., 
'Purification of Water> (New York 1917) ; 
Engineering Record (1907; 1913 et seq.) ; 
Flinn Weston and Bogert, ( Waterworks Hand- 
book > (Ne\v York 1916) ; Fuller, Myron W., 
< Contributions to Hydrology of the Eastern 



WATER TABLE — WATER WHEEL 



65 



United States ) (in ( Water-Supplv and Irriga- 
tion Papers 102, 110, and 146, > of the United 
States Geological Survey) ; Fuller, George W., 
< Report of Commissioner of Waterworks of 
Cincinnati > ; Frankland, Percy, ( Micro-Organ- 
isms in Water* (London) ; Grover, Nathan 
C, Contributions to Hydrology of the United 
States* (United States Water Supply Paper 
375); Hasseltine, H. E., <The Bacteriological 
Examination of Water> (United States Health 
Reports No. 45, Washington 1917) ; Hall, Ed- 
ward Hagaman, ( The Catskill Aqueduct ) (in 23d 
Annual Report of the American Scenic and 
Historic Preservation Society) ; Hale, Frank 
E., ( Iron Removal by Rapid Sand Filters ) ; 
Hill, Nicholas S., Jr., ( Modern Filter Prac- 
tice ) ; Houston, A. C., (Reports* as Director of 
the Metropolitan Board of Water Supply for 
London; Johnson, George A., ( The Purification 
of Public Water Supplies> (Paper 315, United 
States Geological Survey) ; Journal of the 
American Waterworks Association; Journal of 
the New England Waterworks Association 
(Vols. XIII, XIV, March and June 1915); 
Kunz, George F., ( The Catskill Aqueduct 
Publications* (New York) ; ( Annual Reports 
of the Water Board of London ) (London, 
annually) ; Mason, William P., ( Water Supply ' 
(New York 1916) ; ( Mass. Board of Health, 
Reports of* ; Meyer, Adolph F., ( Elements of 
Hydrology* (New York) ; ( New York City, 
Water Supply of ) (pamphlet issued by the 
Merchants' Association, ib.) ; Parker, John 
Henry, ( The Aqueducts of Ancient Rome* ; 
Phelps, Earle B., ( Chemical Disinfection of 
Water* (United States Public Health Report 41, 
Washington, October 1914) ; Prescott and Wins- 
low, ( Elements of Water Bacteriology ) (Lon- 
don) ; Proceedings of the American Waterways 
Association and of the Institution of Civil En- 
gineers of London; Race, Joseph, ( Chlorina- 
tion of Water * (New York 1918) ; Rafter, 
George W., ( Various Articles on Hydrology, 
Rainfall, and Water-Supply (Rochester, 
N. Y.) ; Rideal, Samuel, < Water and Its Purifi- 
cation (London) ; Reports of the Massachusetts 
State Board of Health, of the Public Health 
Service and Hygiene Laboratory of the United 
States, and of the New York City Board of 
Water Supply, Gas and Electricity; Slichter, 
Charles S., ( The Rate of Movement of Under- 
ground Waters* (Paper 140, United States Geo- 
logical Survey) ; Transactions of the American 
Microscopical Society (Vols. XXIII, XXIV 
and XXX), and of the London Institution of 
Mechanical Engineers ; Turneaure and Rus- 
sell, ( Public Water Supplies* (New York) ; 
Technology Quarterly (various volumes; ; 
Underground Water Resources of Iowa* 
(Water Supply Paper 293 of the United States 
Geological Survey) ; United States Geological 
Survey Reports on Underground Waters, 
Hydrology and Water Supply; Whipple, 
George C, ( Microscopy of Drinking Water' 
(New York) ; id., ( The Value of Pure Water > 
(New York 1907) ; Zeiischrift fur Hygiene 
(Berlin 1894 et scq). 

Henry Wayland Hill, 
President of flip New York State Waterways 
Association. Author of ^Waterways and 
Canal Construction in ]\ew York* and of the 
Articles on " Rainfall* and ^Waterways* in 
this Encyclopedia. 

VOL. 29 — 5 



WATER TABLE, in architecture, a pro- 
jecting stone sloped on the roof to throw off 
water. It occurs in buttresses and other parts 
of Gothic architecture. 

WATER THERMOMETER. See Ther- 
mometer. 

WATER-THRUSH, an American warbler 
of the genus Seiurus, brownish to yellowish in 
color, having terrestrial habits and frequenting 
preferably the borders of streams ; its domed 
nest in the woods gives the name oven-bird 
to the common resident species (S. auricapillus) . 
The Louisiana variety (S. motacilla) is distin- 
guished by a white superciliary line. See War- 
blers ; Wagtail. 

WATER TURBINE. See Turbine; 
Water Wheel. 

WATER-TURKEY. See Darter. 

WATER VALLEY, Miss., city, one of the 
county-seats of Yalobusha County, on the 
Illinois Central Railroad, about 140 miles north 
by east of Jackson, the State capital, and 15 
miles north of Coffeeville, the other county-seat. 
It was settled in 1855 by William Carr; incor- 
porated in 1867, and chartered as a city in 1890. 
It is in an agricultural region, in which cotton 
is one of the principal products. It has consid- 
erable lumbering interests. The chief manufac- 
turing establishments are cotton mills, railroad 
repair and construction shops, in which there 
are 500 men employed, a lumber mill, foundry 
and machine shops, and woodworking factory. 
The city owns and operates the electric-light 
plant and the waterworks. There are seven 
church denominations, the Methodist State Or- 
phans' Home, the Mcintosh Training School, 
and public schools for both races. There are 
two banks and two newspapers. The govern- 
ment is vested in a mayor and board of alder- 
men consisting of seven members elected every 
two years. Pop. 4,708. 

WATER WHEEL, a machine by which 
the energy in falling water is utilized to per- 
form mechanical work. Water, through its tend- 
ency to seek the lowest level — the point near- 
est to the centre of the earth — <acts as a motive 
power by its weight. When the water is con- 
fined, as in a vertical pipe, this weight becomes 
pressure. When the water has acquired a ve- 
locity in flow its motive power is called impulse. 
Water wheels adapted to these various condi- 
tions may be divided into two general classes ■ — 
the "vertical,** consisting of the "overshot,** 
"breast** and "undershot** wheels ; and the 
"horizontal,** which includes a great variety of 
turbine or reaction wheels. The impact cr im- 
pulse wheels are represented in both classes. 
The term water wheel is correctly applicable to 
all forms of water motors that rotate, but in 
this article it will be restricted to those of the 
vertical class. For those belonging to the hori- 
zontal class, see Turbine. 

The overshot wheel is so called because the 
actuating water is fed to it from the top. It is 
provided with a number of buckets fixed to its 
periphery in such a way that as the wheel re- 
volves the buckets on the descending side have 
their tops upward, and being filled with water 
at or near the top of the wheel, the weight of 
the water exerts a downward pull and the axle 
of the wheel being free to turn in its bearings, 
a rotary motion is imparted to the axle from 



82 



WATERVLIET— WATERWAYS OF THE UNITED STATES 



public library. There are two banks. Pop. 
about 1,410. 

WATERVLIET, wa-ter-vlet', N. Y., city in 
Albany County, on the Hudson River and on 
the Delaware and Hudson Railroad, opposite 
Troy and six miles north of Albany. Electric 
railways connect the city with Albany, Troy, 
Schenectady and Cohoes. A steel bridge over 
which pass electric cars for both passengers 
and freight spans the river at this point. It is 
at the head of river navigation and has by 
means of the Hudson River water connections 
with New York and intermediate points. 
Watervliet is a factory city having plants 
making woolen goods, shirtwaists, collars, 
bells, iron products, sashes, doors and blinds, 
metal harness parts, street cars, car-journal 
bearings, machine-shop products and boats. In 
1807 the United States government established 
here the Watervliet Arsenal for the construc- 
tion of siege ordnance and field and coast de- 
fenses ; in 1919 negotiations were opened for 
the purchase of some 35 acres of land com- 
prising many city blocks, the plan being to en- 
large the original reservation of 109 acres with 
its wharfage of 1,000 feet, and to make the 
plant the largest of its kind in the country. 
The construction works have been constantly 
in operation and some of the largest guns in 
the United States' service have been made 
here. The place was the scene of great activity 
during the World War ; at an expenditure of 
between 12 and 14 million dollars the normal 
output was tripled, the maximum number of 
employees reaching 5,125. Within the arsenal 
reservation are quarters for officers and bar- 
racks for soldiers. There is also a large stone 
magazine. The city has 12 churches repre- 
senting six denominations ; a high school estab- 
lished in 1899, Saint Patrick's Academy and 
public and parish schools. There is a graded 
school in connection with Saint Colman's 
Orphanage, and also with Fairview Home. 
W r atervliet was settled about the time the first 
settlements were made at Albany and other 
places on the Hudson. It was incorporated as 
a village, and called West Tro}^ in 1836. In 
August 1897 it was chartered as a city under 
its present name. Its industrial growth has 
been closely connected with the work of the 
government arsenal. It has many of the social 
and educational advantages of Troy and 
Albany. The waterworks are owned by the 
city, and on 10 June 1919 the commission form 
of government was adopted. Pop. about 18,000. 

WATERWAYS OF THE UNITED 
STATES, The. The atlas of the world shows 
that three-fourths of its surface is covered with 
water. The waters of the earth comprise oceans, 
seas, straits, gulfs, bays, lakes and rivers. In 
the main these are navigable, but where not 
navigable, much has been done to make them so. 
In addition thereto, extensive systems of inter- 
secting canals have been constructed, so that 
natural and artificial waters of the world, 
known as ^waterways, 8 comprise all its oceans, 
seas, gulfs, sounds, bays, many of its lakes and 
rivers, and all navigable canals. 

In the United States the ebb and flow of 
the tide is not the test of navigability as it 
was in England before it was abolished by 
24 Vict., ch. 10. The Supreme Court of the 
United States held in the Daniel Ball, 10 Wall. 



557, that a different test than tidal variations 
must be applied here to determine navigability. 
The courts say that those rivers must be re- 
garded as public navigable rivers in law, which 
are navigable in fact; and they are navigable 
in fact when they are used, or are susceptible 
of being used, in their ordinary condition, as 
highways for commerce, over which trade and 
travel are or may be conducted in the custom- 
ary modes of trade and travel on water. The 
commercial power of Congress authorizes such 
legislation as will insure the convenient and 
safe navigation of all navigable waters of the 
United States, whether that consists in requiring 
the removal of obstructions to their use, in 
prescribing the form and size of the vessels 
employed upon them, or in subjecting the ves- 
sels to inspection and license. The power to 
regulate commerce comprehends the control 
for that purpose and to the extent necessary, 
of all navigable waters of the United States 
which are accessible from a State other than 
those in which they lie. For this purpose they 
are the public property of the nation, and sub- 
ject to all the requisite legislation of Con- 
gress. In the case of Perry v. Haines, 191 
U. S. 17, the same court decided that admiralty 
jurisdiction extends to cases of maritime liens 
upon vessels navigating the Erie Canal, as that 
formed part of a navigable highway for inter- 
state commerce between Lake Erie and the 
ocean. Thus artificial as well as natural navi- 
gable waters are being recognized as public 
waters in the sense in which Bracton used that 
term in the rule that publico, vero sunt omnia 
flumina et portus. Years ago the English courts 
decided that the river Severn was a public 
highway, and the courts of the United States 
have followed the decisions of the Supreme 
Court of the United States heretofore stated 
in regard to public navigable waterways. An 
interior nation has a servitude along natural 
watercourses to reach the highway of nations, 
known as jus transitus, which is recognized by 
the law of nations. The right of transit over 
the Danube below the Iron Gates is secured 
by agreement. In the United States and in 
Canada, the rivers do not generally flow in 
foreign territory, so that it is not necessary to 
invoke the doctrine of jus transitus, except in 
a few cases, as along the Richelieu and lower 
Saint Lawrence. 

The Atlantic Coast. Maine. — 'The water- 
ways of Maine include 240 miles of seacoast, 
with many baj^s indenting it and scores < of 
islands strewn along it. The Saint Croix River 
on the east is the outlet of Grand Lakes. It 
forms part of the international boundary and 
is navigable from its mouth up to Calais. Its 
tonnage in 1917 was 61,896 tons. The Penobscot 
is 275 miles long and navigable to Bangor by 
large vessels. It is the outlet of several lakes 
in central Maine and flows into Penobscot Bay, 
30 miles long and 15 miles wide. Its tonnage 
in 1917 was 340,198 tons. The Kennebec is 
160 miles long and navigable to Augusta. It is 
the outlet of Moosehead Lake, which is 36 
miles long and from 8 to 12 miles wide, and 
navigated by pleasure steamers. 

The Kennebec has a channel 150 feet wide 
and from 18 to 16 feet deep up to Gardiner and 
thence a channel 125 feet wide and 11 feet deep 
up to Augusta. The tonnage on that river in 
1917 was 123,855 tons. The Androscoggin 



WATERWAYS OF THE UNITED STATES 



83 



River drains the famous Rangeley lakes and 
other lakes, and flows 200 miles into the Kenne- 
bec near its mouth. It is navigable only in part 
and by river craft. Sebago Lake is 12 miles 
long and 10 miles wide and navigable by small 
steamers. 

Its principal seaport is Portland, but it also 
has other improved harbors, among which are 
Bar Harbor, Stockton, Camden, Rockport, 
Rockland, Matinicus, South Bristol, Boothbay, 
Sasanoa and others. 

Portland has a developed waterfront of 
four miles in extent. It has 47 wharves, 12 of 
which are used for transportation terminals. 
Its tonnage in 1917 was 2,905,428 tons. 

The tonnage of Bar Harbor in 1917 was 
27,723 tons. 

Saco River, 105 miles long, has a channel 
seven feet deep and from 100 to 200 feet in 
width for six miles up-stream. In 1917 its ton- 
nage was 53,216 tons. 

New Hampshire and Massachusetts. — New 
Hampshire has Portsmouth as its principal for- 
tified harbor. Its rivers are few. Cochero and 
Exeter rivers are navigable a few miles for 
light draft vessels and the channel of the Mer- 
rimac has been improved to Haverhill, 16^4 
miles, to a depth of seven feet. Fourteen 
wharves extend along the Merrimac. Its ton- 
nage in 1917 was 18,031 tons. Portsmouth and 
other harbors have been improved. 

Pepperells Cove is _ a part of Portsmouth 
Harbor and has been improved for anchorage 
purposes, the controlling depth being 11 feet. 
Its tonnage in 1917 was 109,781 tons. 

The inland lakes of New Hampshire are 
navigable by small pleasure boats. The same 
is true of the rivers of Massachusetts. It has, 
however, Boston Harbor, Massachusetts Bay, 
Cape Cod Bay, which is connected with Buz- 
zard's Bay by a canal across Cape Cod, Nan- 
tucket Sound, Vineyard Sound, Buzzard's Bay 
and several other small bays, all in communica- 
tion with the ocean. Boston has a land-locked 
harbor of 47 square miles in area. It has sev- 
eral improved channels from 23 to 40 feet deep 
and from 100 to 1,200 feet wide. Its inflowing 
tributaries, Chelsea Creek, Fort Point Channel, 
Charles River and Mystic River have all been 
made navigable. In 1917 the tonnage on Chel- 
sea Creek was 532,200 tons ; on Fort Point 
Channel 1,116,204 tons; on Mystic River 5,082,- 
250 tons. It has four or more miles of fully- 
developed waterfront with wharves of various 
types devoted to ocean commerce. Gloucester, 
Beverly, Salem and Lynn harbors have all been 
improved. In 1917 the tonnage of Gloucester 
Harbor was 239,272 tons; of Beverly Harbor, 
444,695 tons; of Salem, 58,158 tons and of Lynn 
Harbor, 338,783 tons. 

Taunton River is navigable to Taunton, 
15 miles from its outlet, which empties into 
Mount Hope Bay. The Maiden, Weymouth 
Fo,re and Weymouth Back rivers are navigable 
at their mouths only. Salem, as a commercial 
port, has a reputation far more enviable than 
that for witchcraft. 

Vermont. — Vermont has part of Lake Mem- 
phremagog, which is navigable by lake steam- 
ers, and part of Lake Champlain, 120 miles long 
and 15 miles wide in its extreme width, which 
has been, since its discovery on 4 July 1609, a 
highway of commerce for the aborigines, for 



the colonists and for Americans generally. It 
is navigated, by large lake steamers, by scores 
of other steamers and by many yachts and sail- 
ing vessels. It is one of the most picturesque 
lakes in America and forms an important por- 
tion of the 467 miles of waterway between the 
Saint Lawrence on the north and New York 
Bay on the south. It contains several beautiful 
islands, such as Isle La Motte, North Hero and 
South Hero. Lake Champlain is connected with 
the waters of the Hudson River at Fort Ed- 
ward by the Champlain Barge Canal, having a 
depth of 12 feet of water, so that vessels draw- 
ing 11 feet may pass from Lake Champlain 
through into the Hudson River. 

Whitehall, Port Henry, Burlington, Pitts- 
burgh and Rouses Point are the principal im- 
proved ports of Lake Champlain. Its principal 
tributaries are the historic Otter Creek, where 
Commodore Macdonough built his fleet in 1814, 
the Missisquoi River and the Champlain or Big 
Chazy River. Its outlet is the Richelieu River, 
a tributary of the Saint Lawrence. 

Rhode Island. — Rhode Island has Narra- 
gansett Bay, Mount Hope Bay, Providence and 
Seekonk rivers. These are navigable by large 
passenger and other vessels. Narragansett Bay, 
about 20 miles long and 12 miles wide, has 
channels through it to Providence and Fall 
River. Along its eastern margin is Sakonnet 
River with Portsmouth Harbor at the head of 
it. The Pawtucket River, 50 miles long, is im- 
proved in its lower section for a distance of 
five and two-tenths miles. Its tonnage in 1917 
was 490,594 tons. Providence River and Har- 
bor has been dredged to a depth of 30 feet over 
an area one and six-tenths miles in length and 
one-quarter mile in width. Its tonnage in 1917 
was 3,406,224 tons. Fall River Harbor, at the 
mouth of Taunton River, has a channel 300 
feet wide and 25 feet deep, extending out to 
Narragansett Bay. The steamers of the Fall 
River Line enter that harbor. In 1917 its ton- 
nage was 1,469,750 tons. Newport Harbor, 
R. I., is an improved waterway with a channel 
750 feet wide and 18 feet deep at low water. 
Its tonnage in 1917 was 204,701 tons. 

Connecticut. — Connecticut has part of 
Long Island Sound, the Thames River, navi- 
gable to Norwich, the Connecticut River, the 
Naugatuck River, navigable by small craft for 
a few miles and the Housatonic, 150 miles long 
and navigable to Shelton. It has several towns 
along its waterways, such as Stonington, Nor- 
wich, New London, New Haven and Bridge- 
port. 

The tonnage of the Connecticut River be- 
low Hartford in 1917 was 602,008 tons. That 
river has been improved as far as Holyoke, a 
distance of 85.9 miles from its mouth. 

There are numerous harbors along the north 
shore of Long Island Sound with inflowing 
tributaries, many of which have been improved 
sufficiently to be navigable by coastwise vessels. 

New London has an entrance channel 600 
feet wide and 33 feet deep and is well equipped 
with wharves and other terminal facilities. In 
1917 its tonnage was 690,977 tons. 

The channel at New Haven is 400 feet wide 
and 20 feet deep, three miles up from Long 
Island Sound, and it has been somewhat ex- 
tended at lesser depths and widths up-stream. 
In 1917 the tonnage at that port was 1,868,649 



12 

V 



m e d 



*77< 



^ 



!*£££# 



~»*»rc 



***4M4 



■'V 



nL o 

A 



K T H 



Ota 



M / 



»> 






5 O 



D A 



'U T H 



T A 



NEB 



****£ 



'*c 



r o 



C O 



L O 



\0£NY£ft 

ADQ 



R A 5 K 



K A N S 



\ I 



"««■«« 



«^ej 



O N A « 



E X 



c o 



a 



K L A 



NAVIGABLE WATERWAYS 

OF THE 

UNITED STATES. 
PREPARED IN THE OFFICE 

OF THE 

CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, 

U. S. ARMY 

1920 



<f 






84 



WATERWAYS OF THE UNITED STATES 



tons. Thames River, Connecticut, is a tidal es- 
tuary from 400 to 4,000 feet wide,_ extending 
from Long Island Sound to Norwich, a dis- 
tance of 15 miles. Its channel is 200 feet wide 
and from 20 feet deep to Allyn Point and 14 feet 
deep from there to Norwich, with wharves at 
New London and Norwich. The tonnage on 
that river in 1917 was 328,188 tons. The Housa- 
tonic River has an improved channel from 100 
to 200 feet wide and seven feet deep to Derby 
an*d Shelton, a distance of 13 miles from its out- 
let. Its tonnage in 1917 was 300,047 tons. 

Bridgeport has several improved channels 
from Long Island Sound leading up to the port 
to accommodate coastwise vessels. Its tonnage 
in 1917 was 1,588,056 tons. 

There are several other harbors along the 
south coast of Connecticut that have been im- 
proved, all of which show the increasing inter- 
est in waterways improvement. 

Long Island Sound is 75 miles long and 20 
miles wide. It is a great waterway for several 
superb steamboat lines plying between New 
York and towns and cities on its northern 
shore. The Connecticut River at one time was 
navigated by a number of river boats and had 
considerable commerce. A line of boats ran 
between Wells River, Vt, and Hartford. The 
boats were flat boats and did not draw much 
water. The Barnet was the first steamer for 
Connecticut River service. It drew 22 inches 
of water. On its first trip from Hartford to 
Vermont it had in tow a barge filled with peo- 
ple. Other steamers were built for river serv- 
ice, in which they were engaged for many 
years. This river was a great natural highway 
for the transportation of produce to market. 
The rapids in the river were overcome by canals 
at South Hadley Falls, at Turner Falls and at 
Bellows Falls. 

New York. — The waterways of New York 
comprise that portion of the Atlantic Ocean 
washing Long Island on the south, and that part 
of Long Island Sound washing Long Island on 
the north, and also the upper and lower New 
York and Jamaica bays, and a portion of Staten 
Island Sound and all of the East, Harlem and 
Hudson rivers. They also include the Mohawk, 
Seneca, Chemung, Black, Oswego and parts of 
the Delaware, Susquehanna, Genesee, Alle- 
gheny, Niagara, Saint Lawrence and other riv- 
ers, interior lakes and parts of Lakes Erie, On- 
tario and Champlain and others. 

In and about the port of New York are 
many inflowing streams and contiguous har- 
bors. Some of these are Port Chester, Mama- 
roneck, Echo Bay, Westchester, Bronx River, 
Flushing Bay, Hempstead, Huntington, Port 
Jefferson, Mattituck, Great South Bay, Brown's 
Creek, Jamaica Bay, Sheepshead Bay, East 
River, Wallabout Channel, Newtown Creek, 
Harlem River, Hudson River, New York Bay 
and the various improved channels therein. All 
such waterways have been improved and are 
navigable by coastwise vessels, and many of 
them by the ocean-going vessels. 

New York is the largest commercial port in 
the world, having wrested first place from Lon- 
don recently. The total tonnage of the port of 
New York for the year 1917 was 65,176,983 
short tons. That was during the World War, 
when war supplies were being shipped in great 
quantities. Its unique position at the conflu- 



ence of the East and Hudson rivers overlook- 
ing one of the finest harbors in the world, has 
added to its other commercial advantages and 
is destined to continue it as the emporium of 
the western hemisphere. On the north flows 
the picturesque Hudson, discovered in Septem- 
ber 1609, and navigable by steam vessels 150 
miles to the city of Troy, and by canal barges 
to Waterford. # It has been improved, its many 
harbors also improved and the river has been 
canalized from Waterford to Fort Edward. 
It receives on the west the waters of the Mo- 
hawk, formerly _ navigable about 95 miles, to 
Little Falls, which is also canalized from the 
Hudson nearly to the city of Rome. The ca- 
nalized Hudson and Mohawk form a part of 
the improved canal system of the State of 
New York, constructed pursuant to the provi- 
sions of the Canal Referendum Law, which law 
provided for the issue and sale of the bonds of 
the State, amounting to $101,000,000, for the 
construction of a system of barge canals, hav- 
ing a bottom width of 75 feet and a depth of 12 
feet, from the waters of the Hudson to those of 
Lake Champlain, Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, 
adequate for barges carrying 2,000 or more tons. 
That was followed by the Cayuga and Seneca 
canal referendum of 1909, authorizing a bond 
issue of $7,000,000 to improve the Cayuga and 
Seneca Canal, which was approved. That was 
also followed by the Barge Canal Terminal 
referendum measure of 1911, authorizing a fur- 
ther bond issue of $19,800,000 to construct 
Barge Canal terminals and was approved, 
and that was followed by the canal referen- 
dum of 1915, authorizing a further bond issue 
of $27,000,000, thus making aggregate bond is- 
sues for canals and terminals of $154,800,000. 
An additional bond issue of $25,000,000 will be 
required to complete the system. 

The Cayuga and Seneca Canal has been en- 
larged to. Barge Canal dimensions and connects 
Cayuga and Seneca lakes with the Erie Barge 
Canal. The New York Barge canals have 
standard locks 328 feet long, 45 feet wide with 
12 feet of water over mitre sills. These will 
admit of the passage of barges carrying 2,000 
or more tons. See Barge Canal. 

These are the largest canal improvement 
projects ever undertaken by one of the Ameri- 
can States. West of the city of Rome is Oneida 
Lake, into which flows Wood Creek, which is 
canalized and connected with the Mohawk. 
Oneida Lake, Oneida River and Oswego River 
are all canalized, as well as the Seneca River 
from the Three River point to the outlet of 
Onondaga Lake, and thence southwesterly 
nearly to Seneca Lake. New York contains 
several beautiful bodies of water, such as Lake 
George, part of Lake Champlain, part of Lake 
Ontario, part of Lake Erie, Onondaga, Skane- 
ateles, Cayuga, Seneca, Keuka, Canandaigua and 
Chautauqua lakes. All of these lakes are navi- 
gated by passenger steamers during the summer. 

New Jersey. — The waterways of New Jersey 
comprise a portion of the lower Hudson, upper 
New York Bay, Newark Bay, Staten Island 
Sound, Raritan Bay, the Atlantic Ocean and 
several arms of the ocean indenting the east- 
ern coast of New Jersey, and Delaware Bay 
on the south and the Delaware River on the 
west, and other rivers intersecting it. 

New Jersey and Pennsylvania. — Newark 
Bay is navigable for six miles and Passaic 



WATERWAYS OF THE UNITED STATES 



. 



River in New Jersey for 16 miles. Hackensack 
River has been made navigable for 15 miles 
from its mouth. Staten Island Sound, 17 miles 
long, connects New York and Raritan bays. 

Commerce on Raritan Bay, Arthur Kill and 
Passaic River in 1906 amounted to 25,584,273 
tons. 

The Raritan Bay, seven miles long, and 
Raritan River to New Brunswick, a distance of 
12 miles, are being improved. The Raritan 
River is navigable from Raritan Bay to New 
Brunswick, and from that point along the bed 
of the Raritan and Millstone rivers to Tren- 
ton is a canal, thus joining the waters of lower 
New York Bay with those of the Delaware. The 
total length of the Susquehanna River, includ- 
ing tributaries, is over 400 miles, and it is only 
partially navigable. 

In some portions of its course the Susque- 
hanna has been canalized to overcome rocks and 
vegetable matter, which obstructed its naviga- 
tion. It flows into the Chesapeake Bay, which 
is 120 miles long and 50 miles wide. It has been 
improved to a depth of 15 feet with a width of 
200 feet from Chesapeake Bay to Havre de 
Grace. It is proposed to render it navigabk to 
Harrisburg. A bill authorizing an appropriation 
for this work was passed in 1919. 

Pennsylvania has suffered its extensive canal 
system to pass fromi its control. 

The Schuylkill River is being improved for 
six and one-half miles up from the Delaware 
River to a depth of 22 feet and 200 feet wide. 

Delaware River is about 315 miles long and 
empties into Delaware Bay, which is 50 miles 
long. The river has been improved as far as 
Trenton, N. J., to a depth of 12 feet and to a 
width of 200 feet which is to be increased to 
400 feet. Its channel from Delaware Bay to 
Philadelphia is 35 feet deep at low water and 
has a width of 800 feet, and in the city of Phila- 
delphia it is 1,000 to 1,200 feet wide. The ton- 
nage at Trenton in 1917 was 2,439,044 tons. 

Philadelphia has extensive modern terminal 
facilities and its water-borne tonnage, coast- 
wise and foreign, for the year 1917 was 26,282,- 
734 short tons. The total arrival of vessels for 
the year was 51,206 and the departures were 
58,838. This shows the enormous waterway ac- 
tivities of that port. Other ocean ports were 
more or less active. 

Middle Atlantic States. — ■ Wilmington Har- 
bor on the Delaware River, at the mouth of 
Christiana River, includes sections of those two 
rivers and is well provided with wharves and 
terminals. Its tonnage in 1917 was 414,987 tons. 

Several rivers, creeks and harbors in New 
Jersey, Delaware and Maryland have been im- 
proved. The Wilmington district includes 26 
rivers, creeks and harbors that are being im- 
proved, the largest being Wilmington Harbor, 
including the Christiana River, navigable for 15 
miles, and a tidal canal between Rehoboth and 
Delaware bays. 

The Appoquinemink, the Smyrna, the Leip- 
sic, Little Saint Johns, Murderkill, Mispillion 
and Broadkill rivers, all in Delaware, are small 
streams that have been improved in their lower 
reaches. A waterway six feet deep and 50 feet 
wide extends from Rehoboth Bay and Delaware 
Bay whose tonnage in 1917 was 15,275 tons. 

The inland waterway from Delaware Bay to 
Chincoteague Bay, Virginia, which is six feet 



deep and 70 feet wide, had a tonnage in 1917 of 
22,520 tons. 

The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal has 
been purchased by the United States govern- 
ment and is to be enlarged and made a sea-level 
canal, 12 feet deep at mean low water with 90 
feet bottom width. It extends from the Dela- 
ware River to Black Creek at Elk River, a dis- 
tance of 18.9 miles and becomes a part of the 
Intercoastal Waterway from Maine to Key 
West. 

The Baltimore district includes 26 rivers 
and harbors undergoing improvement. The 
principal harbor is Baltimore. That includes 
Curtis Bay and Patapsco River and tributaries 
and is 11 miles above Chesapeake Bay. It has 
several channels of 35-feet depth and of vari- 
able widths from 400 to 1,000 feet with wharves, 
terminal facilities and a belt line railway con- 
necting the waterfront terminals with the trunk 
line railways. Its tonnage in 1917 was 14,055,885 
tons. 

The Washington district comprises 11 rivers 
and harbors, including a part of the Chesa- 
peake Bay and the streams emptying into it. 

The harbor of Washington is on the Poto- 
mac River, 110 miles from its outlet into Chesa- 
peake Bay. The average depth of water in its 
channel is 20 feet. 

The Washington Harbor is two miles in 
length and 950 feet in width. It has 44 wharves, 
eight of which are municipal and eight are open 
to the public on equal terms. Vessels of 30 
feet draft may moor at the docks extending 
11,000 feet along the waterfront. In 1917, the 
tonnage was 837,221 tons. Above Washington 
is the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal of six feet 
depth of nrism paralleling the Potomac for 175 
miles to Cumberland, Md. 

In 1906 its tonnage was 225,142 tons. The 
Anacosta River is 20 miles long, flowing into 
the Potomac at Washington. It has been im- 
proved and has 15 terminals. Its tonnage in 
1917 was 226,911 tons. Several ports have 
been improved on the Potomac, such as George- 
town, Alexandria and Lower Cedar Point. The 
Potomac River is about 400 miles long and navi- 
gable 110 miles for large vessels. It flows into 
Chesapeake Bay from the northwest. It re- 
ceives from the south the waters of the Shen- 
andoah. The Rappahannock River is over 200 
miles long and navigable by vessels of 10-feet 
draft to Fredericksburg, a distance of 110 miles. 

The James River is 320 miles long and is 
being improved to Richmond, a distance of 
103.8 miles. Its channel will be 22 feet deep at 
mean low water and have a width of 200 to 400 
feet. The river is equipped with terminals at 
various points connecting with railroads. It 
has extensive wharves and docks at Richmond, 
some of which are free for public use. In 1917 
the tonnage was 715,255 tons. 

Norfolk Harbor, Va., has a __ channel 40 
feet deep at mean low water and 750 feet wide 
from Hampton Roads to the mouth of the 
southern branch of the Elizabeth River, and 
thence 450 feet wide up that branch, a distance 
of 11^4 miles, except in front of the navy yard 
where the channel is 35 feet and from 600 to 
800 feet wide. There are other channels in the 
harbor of various dimensions. Its wharves, 
piers and terminals number 165. In 1917 its 
tonnage was 31,870,321 tons. 



WATERWAYS 




ov<3 



&Z3 

„©T3 

3«~-2 

* u 22 



«> 3 M 

d o — 

°,d* 
•*•- % 

"So « 

N c« 
^"^^ 

a>©ja 
•d .j** 1 
w 






.S 
3.83 



■s's-s 

Z 2 



« > di 

OJ o 



4) o 

£33 



WATERWAYS 




1 Steel barges built for Federal Governmental use on the New York State Barge Canal and Dut in service in 1919 

2 Fleet of concrete barges on Barge Canal — built and used by Federal Government 



86 



WATERWAYS OF THE UNITED STATES 



The harbor at Newport News, 10 miles west 
of Norfolk, has a channel 600 feet wide, 35 
feet draft and three and one-qnarter miles 
long. It has extensive shipbuilding, railway and 
other facilities. Its tonnage in 1917 was 6,259,- 
774 tons. The lower reaches of the Appomat- 
tox, 137 miles long, a tributary of the James 
River, are being improved to a depth of 12 
feet and with a diversion channel two and one- 
half miles long, and from 200 to 400 feet wide 
below Petersburg. Its tonnage in 1917 was 335,- 
947 tons. The Pagan and Nansemond rivers 
and Cape Charles City Harbor, Va., are being 
improved. The Congress of the United States 
has made appropriations in part for the con- 
struction of an intracoastal waterway with a 
prism having a bottom width of 90 to 300 feet 
and a depth of 12 feet at mean low water, paral- 
leling the Atlantic Coast from Norfolk, Va., to 
Beaufort, N. C, a distance of 186 miles. It will 
comprise natural watercourses except through 
four land cuts to connect such watercourses. 

The tidal waterway along the coast of Vir- 
ginia, including Cat River and Bogues Bay, with 
a channel four feet deep and 25 feet wide, had a 
tonnage in 1917 of 109,024 tons. 

Four routes were surveyed for that intra- 
coastal canal and the route via the Albemarle 
and Chesapeake Canal was recommended. It 
follows the existing waterway, via Neuse River, 
Adams Creek, Adams Creek Canal, Core Creek 
and Newport River. Several rivers which flow 
into the Atlantic Ocean and into the bays con- 
nected by this intracoastal canal are being im- 
proved for some distance up from their outlets 
and wharves and terminal facilities are being 
installed along their navigable waters. Roanoke 
River is 198 miles long, and from Weldon to its 
mouth, a distance of 129 miles, it is being im- 
proved to secure a channel 50 feet in width and 
six feet in depth. In 1917 its commerce was 
78,736 tons. The Roanoke flows into Albe- 
marle Sound, which is about 50- miles long and 
from five to eight miles wide, and it communi- 
cates through Croaton Sound with Pamlico 
Sound, which is 75 miles long and about 20 
miles wide. These sounds will be connected 
with the Chesapeake by the intracoastal canal, 
having a depth of 12 feet and destined to do an 
active business. 

The Wilmington, N. C, district comprises 25 
rivers and harbors, including Beaufort Harbor, 
N. C, and several inland waterways and 
Cape Fear River. Most of the sounds are 
shallow and communicate with the Atlantic 
Ocean. Into Pamlico Sound flows the Pamlico 
and the River Neuse. The Cape Fear, Black 
and East Cape Fear rivers have been improved. 
Most of the other rivers and harbors of the 
Wilmington, N. C, district will be improved and 
brought into navigable communication with the 
coastal canal. 

South Atlantic' States. — The Charleston, 
S. C, district includes 11 rivers and harbors. 
The Waccamaw River is to be improved its 
entire length of 147 miles. The Little Peedee, 
South Carolina, is to be improved 113 miles 
above its outlet into the Great Peedee River, so 
as to have a four-foot channel. The Santee 
River is to be improved and a canal constructed 
between Estherville and Minim Creek, six feet 
deep and 70 feet wide for river steamers. 
Wateree River is to have a four-foot navigable 



channel from Camden to its mouth, a distance 
of 67 miles. 

The Congaree River is to have a four-foot 
navigable channel for 49 miles above its mouth. 
The creeks, sounds, rivers and bays between 
Charleston Harbor and Alligator Creek for a 
distance of 47^ miles are being connected by 
a channel 100 feet wide and six feet deep at 
mean low water, and another channel seven 
feet deep has been recommended from Win- 
3'ah Bay to Charleston, via Estherville-Minim 
Creek Canal. Charleston Harbor has an 
area of six square miles and is to be im- 
proved by the construction of a channel 30 feet 
deep and 500 feet wide from the sea up to the 
navy yard, and 1,000 feet wide out to seaward. 
The North Jetty is 15,443 feet long and the 
South Jetty is 19,104 feet long and the passage- 
way between them is 2,900 feet wide. The east- 
ern waterfront of Charleston Harbor has 
three-quarters of a mile of piers and the same 
length of marginal wharves. On the western 
front there is one small public wharf. The ton- 
nage of the port in 1917 was 766,026 tons. The 
harbor is formed at the confluence of the Ash- 
ley and Cooper rivers. The Ashley River is 
being improved by constructing a channel 24 
feet deep at mean low water and 300 feet wide 
from the mouth of the river up to the Standard 
wharf, a distance of seven and one-half miles 
and of eight feet depth above that to Lambs. 
Ashley River also has 12 phosphate wharves. 
Cooper River has been improved to a depth of 
32 feet for six miles and a marginal wharf and 
warehouses have been built along it. 

Savannah, Ga., district comprises 16 rivers 
and harbors. Savannah Harbor is being im- 
proved by a channel 30 feet deep and 500 
feet wide to Quarantine, thence 26 feet deep 
and from 400 to 500 feet wide to the city water- 
works, a distance of 16 miles, and thence 21 
feet deep and 300 feet wide, one and one-half 
miles to King's Island, making the entire length 
of the improvement 27y 2 miles. The turning 
basin at West Broad and Barnard streets is 26 
feet deep and 600 feet wide with a basin at Fort 
Oglethorp 26 feet deep and 900 feet wide. It 
has a wharf frontage of five miles, comprising 
municipal, private and railway terminals. Its 
tonnage in 1917 was 2,429,288 tons. From Sa- 
vannah, 17 miles from the sea to Augusta, 218 
miles from the sea, the Savannah River has a 
navigable channel of five feet depth, and along 
its course on many landings and at Augusta are 
private wharves with a total frontage of 1,450 
feet. It also has a municipal wharf and ware- 
house with an electrically equipped elevator and 
locomotive crane. From Augusta to Petersburg, 
a distance of 53 miles, a channel is being main- 
tained from 12 to 25 feet wide for vessels with a 
draft of one and three-tenths feet. A waterway 
53 miles long with a depth of seven feet is being 
constructed along Ramshorn Creek, Wright and 
Mud rivers from Savannah to Beaufort, S. C. 
Another waterway is being constructed from 
Beaufort, S. C, to Saint John's River, Florida. 
Still another project provides for a channel 
seven feet deep and 150 feet wide from Savan- 
nah, Ga., to Fernandina, Fla., through Skidway 
and Creighton Narrows, Little Mud River, 
Frederica and Jekyl creeks and Cumberland 
River, a distance of 147 miles. Auxiliary chan- 
nels through Three Mile Cut, near Darien, 






WATERWAYS OF THE UNITED STATES 



87 



around Saint Simon's and Saint Andrew's 
Sound and along Glub and Plantation Creek 
with supplemental routes, altogether measuring 
183 miles. These improved natural channels 
made navigation safer and reduced freight rates. 
An improved waterway, 29 miles long, seven 
feet deep and 100 feet wide, connects Saint 
John's River, Florida, six miles from its mouth, 
with Cumberland Sound, Georgia. Other water- 
ways and harbors in that region are being im- 
proved. 

Satilla River, Georgia, 350 miles long, is 
being improved so as to afford steamboat navi- 
gation 93 miles up-stream. The channel of 
Saint Mary's River for 12^/2 miles above its 
mouth is 17 feet deep and 200 feet wide and for 
24*/2 miles still further up-stream the channel is 
being cleared. 

The Altamaha River is being improved its 
entire length of 137 miles. It will have a chan- 
nel 60 to 100 feet wide and four feet deep. Its 
tonnage in 1917 was 37,625 tons. The River 
Oconee for 145 miles and Ocmulgee for 205 
miles, whose confluence forms the Altamaha, 
are being improved in the same manner as the 
last-named river. The inner and outer har- 
bors of Brunswick, Ga., are to be dredged to a 
depth of 30 feet at mean low water and equip- 
ped with terminal facilities. Fernandina Har- 
bor, Florida, and Cumberland Sound, Georgia 
and Florida, are also being improved. 

The Jacksonville, Fla., district includes 26 
rivers and harbors undergoing improvement to 
various navigable depths. 

Saint John's River is to have a channel from 
300 to 600 feet wide and a depth of 24 to 30* 
feet from Jacksonville to the ocean, a distance 
of 28 miles, and a channel 200 feet wide and 
13 feet deep from Jacksonville to Palatka, a 
distance of 55 miles, and a channel 100 feet 
wide and eight feet deep from Palatka to San- 
ford and five feet deep from Sanford to Lake 
Harney, the two last improvements extending 
up the river 115 miles above Palatka. Lake 
Crescent, 14 miles long and one to three miles 
wide, is in touch with Saint John's River 
through Dunn's Creek, eight and one-half miles 
long, with a channel 100 feet wide and eight 
feet deep. 

In 1917, the total number of arrivals and de- 
parture of steamers, motor boats, sail boats, 
lighters and rafts on the Saint John's River 
was 10,098. The freight traffic was 174,609 
tons. A waterway, known as the East Coast 
Canal, extends from Saint John's River to Key 
West, Fla. 

The channel of the Oklamaha River, Florida, 
a tributary of Saint John's River, is being 
cleared to a depth of six feet from its mouth 
to Silver Springs Run, a distance of 62 miles. 
Indian River has a channel 75 feet wide and 
five feet deep for 77 miles ; Lucie Inlet with a 
channel 200 feet wide and 18 feet deep connects 
Indian River with the ocean, 235 miles south 
of Saint John's River. The Miami Harbor has 
an entrance channel 300 feet wide and 20 feet 
deep. It embraces artificial basins and dredged 
channels through to the ocean with parallel pro- 
jecting stone jetties. It has wharves and piers, 
some of which are public. Its water-borne 
tonnage in 1917 was 244,380 tons. 

The harbor at Key West has a channel 300 
feet wide and 30 feet deep. The channel oppo- 



site the wharves is 26 feet deep and 800 feet 
wide. It is an important harbor affording 
shelter for vessels exposed to hurricanes. It 
had a tonnage in 1917 of 745,056 tons. 

Gulf Coast. — The Kissimmee River is being 
cleared and is to have a channel 30 feet wide 
and three feet deep for 99^4 miles, connecting 
several interior lakes, including Kissimmee, 
Tohcpekaliga and Okeechobee, connected many 
years ago by canals with Lake Hicpochee. The 
lowering of the water in Lake Okeechobee for 
drainage purposes has interfered with the navi- 
gation of the upper Kissimmee River, which 
was navigable for 137 miles. The Caloosa- 
hatchee River has a channel 200 feet wide and 
12 feet deep to Puntarasa and thence a channel 
100 feet wide and 10 feet deep to Fort Myers, 
where there is a turning basin and a channel 
from two to four feet deep to Fort Thompson. 
Fort Myers is 20 miles from Charlotte Bay and 
Fort Thompson is 43 miles from Fort Myers. 
A drainage canal connects Fort Thompson 
through Lake Hicpochee with Lake Okeechobee. 
That is to be improved and made navigable so 
there will be a navigable channel through from 
Charlotte Harbor to Lake Tohopekaliga. The 
Orange River, a tributary of the Caloosa- 
hatchee, is also being dredged so as to have 
a navigable depth of four feet for a distance 
of six miles. Charlotte Harbor is from five 
to 11 miles wide and 11 miles long and is to 
have a channel 300 feet wide and 24 feet deep 
to Boca Grande, and 10 feet deep to Punta 
Gorda and six or seven feet in Pine Island 
Sound. There is now a channel 12 feet deep up 
Peace River to Punta Gorda, 200 feet wide in 
the bay and 120 feet wide in Peace River. In 
1917 the tonnage was 304,095 tons. 

Sarasota Bay is to be brought into navigable 
communication with Tampa Bay on the north 
by a proposed channel 100 feet wide and five 
feet deep. Little Sarasota Bay has a channel 
75 feet wide and three feet deep to Venice. 
Tampa Bay is a large body of water 25 miles 
long to Gadsend Peninsula where it divides into 
Hillsboro Bay and Old Western Tampa Bay. 
It is from seven to ten miles wide. It has a 
channel from its entrance to Port Tampa 200 
feet wide and 26 feet deep. Its tonnage in 
1917 was 1,181,076 tons. 

The connecting bays and inflowing rivers 
are being provided with navigable channels of 
200, 300 and 500 feet in width. Hillsboro Bay 
and river and Manatee River are navigable for 
several miles. Saint Petersburg is on the west 
shore of Tampa Bay eight and three-quarters 
miles from Port Tampa. That part of the bay 
is called Bayboro Harbor connected by a channel 
200 feet w T ide and 10 feet deep with the wide 
waters of Tampa Bay. Its tonnage in 1917 
was 22,151 tons. Clearwater Harbor eight miles 
long and from one-half to one and three-quarters 
miles wide and Boca Ceiga Bay are shallow 
sounds but navigated by small vessels. The 
lower reaches of Anclote crystal, Withlocoochee 
and Suwannee rivers are navigable for small 
vessels. The latter has been improved up to 
Kllaville, 135 miles above its mouth, and has 
a channel 150 feet wide and five feet deep for 
the first 75 miles, and one 60 feet wide and 
four feet deep for the remaining 60 miles. 

Alabama, — The Montgomery, Ala., dis- 
trict includes 18 rivers and harbors. Carra- 



88 



WATERWAYS OF THE UNITED STATES 



belle Harbor, Apalachicola Bay and river, the 
lower and upper Chipola, Flint and Chatta- 
hoochee rivers, the canal 36*/2 miles long con- 
necting Apalachicola River, which is a large 
stream, and Saint Andrew's Bay and the en- 
trance to Saint Joseph's Bay are all navigable 
waterways with channels of different widths 
and depths. They are being improved. Choc- 
tawhatchee Bay, 20 or more miles long, is navi- 
gable. Choctawhatchee River has a navigable 
channel from its mouth up to Geneva, Ala., a 
distance of 96 miles. Its tributary, the Holmes 
River, is to be made navigable from its mouth 
up to Vernon, a distance of 25 miles. Black- 
water River will have a channel 100 feet wide 
and nine feet deep up to Milton, a distance of 
10 miles. Escambia River, 6Sy 2 miles long in 
Florida, and Conecuh, 235 miles long in Ala- 
bama, is the same river and is to have a navi- 
gable channel from its mouth to Patsaliga 
Creek, a distance of 147 miles, unless the pres- 
ent project be modified. 

Pensacola Harbor is 13 miles long and is 
five miles wide. It joins Escambia, East and 
Blackwater bays and Santo Rosa Sound on the 
southeast. Pensacola Harbor has a channel 
500 feet wide from the Gulf of Mexico and 
28 feet deep. It is equipped with several 
wharves, a terminal railway and warehouses. 
Its tonnage in 1917 was 524,058 tons. The 
Alabama River formed by the confluence of 
the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers, 22^4 miles 
above Montgomery, unites with the Tombigbee 
River, 44 miles above Mobile, to form the Mobile 
River. The Alabama, whose width is from 400 
to 700 feet, and Coosa rivers are being improved 
so as to have a continuous channel four feet 
deep up to Wetumpa on the Coosa, a distance of 
321.6 miles. Vessels of three feet draft may 
now navigate the river all the year as far as 
Montgomery where there are some terminal 
facilities and whose port tonnage in 1917 was 
94,356 tons. The Coosa River, formed by the 
Oostanaula and Etowah rivers, is being im- 
proved by the construction of a channel 100 
feet wide and four feet deep and of seven dams 
and seven locks 40 to 52 feet wide and 176 to 
280 feet long at various points, rendering the 
river navigable for 165^4 miles above its mouth, 
22]/ 2 miles above Montgomery. Its tonnage in 
1917 was 15,744 tons. 

The Mobile, Ala., district includes 14 
rivers and harbors. Into Mobile Harbor flows 
Mobile River. A channel 300 feet wide and 
27 feet deep has been constructed from the 
ocean up Mobile Bay for 33y 2 miles to the river 
and thence up Mobile River in front of the 
city of Mobile for five miles to Chickasaw 
Creek. In the bay it is 200 feet wide and in 
the river 300 feet wide. Wharves and piers 
line the west shore of Mobile River for two 
and one-fourth miles. The city owns a wharf 
and pier in the upper end of the bay 8,300 feet 
long and 300 feet wide. Mobile tonnage in 
1917 was 1,816,284 tons. Black Warrior River, 
a tributary of the Alabama River, has been 
dredged, and 17 dams and 18 locks have been 
constructed to afford slackwater navigation for 
332 l / 2 miles from its mouth to Sanders Ferry 
on the Mulberry Fork of the Black Warrior 
River and to Nichols Shoals on the Locust 
Fork of the same river. The entire length of 
the section to be improved is 443 l / 2 miles to 



Sanders Ferry and 423V 2 miles to Nichols 
Shoals. The channel is 100 feet wide and six 
feet deep. The locks are 52 feet wide, about 
282 feet long with a depth of six and one-half 
feet of water over mitre sills. The tonnage 
on that part of the improved waterway in use 
in 1917 was 580,728 tons. The Tombigbee River 
is shallow, having a channel two feet in depth, 
though in some sections it is six feet deep and 
all the way 100 feet wide from Demopolis to 
its mouth, a distance of 185 miles. In 1917 the 
tonnage thereon was 445,458 tons. From 
Demopolis, Ala., to Columbus, 149 miles, which 
is 230 miles from its mouth, the Tombigbee 
is to have a channel six feet deep by dredging 
and by the construction of dams and locks. 
From Columbus to Walkers Bridge, 169 miles, 
it is to have a high-water channel, which is 
more or less hazardous. 

Mississippi and Louisiana, — Pascagoula 
Harbor and Gulfport Harbor have both been 
improved, the former having a channel 300 
decreasing to 153 feet in width and a depth of 
25, decreasing to 22 feet in depth four miles up 
Dog River. It had a tonnage in 1917 of 199,817 
tons and the latter (Gulfport Harbor) has a 
channel 26 feet deep and 300 feet wide made 
through Slip Island Pass and one 19 feet deep 
and 1,320 feet wide for an anchorage basin one- 
half mile long. It had a tonnage in 1917 of 
345,688 tons. Both ports have limited terminal 
facilities. Leaf and Chickasahay rivers have 
been cleared of obstructions and are navigable, 
the former for low water navigation 78 miles 
above its mouth and the latter for rafts 75 
miles above the outlet. Those two rivers unite 
to form the Pascagoula River flowing into 
Mississippi Sound. That river has a channel 
of seven feet depth from the mouth of Dog 
River to Dead Lake, 32 miles, and of three 
feet depth above that point for 50 miles. Biloxi 
Harbor, Saint Louis Bay, Wolf, Jordan, East 
Pearl, including Lake Borgne, and Pearl rivers 
near the Gulf of Mexico have been dredged 
and are navigable for vessels of small, but 
different draft for limited distances. Pearl 
River is to have a navigable depth of two feet 
from its mouth to Rockport, a distance of 246 
miles. 

The New Orleans district includes 25 rivers, 
harbors and lakes. These include the South 
and Southwest Passes up into the Mississippi 
River. The latter is 1,000 feet wide between 
bulkheads and in the ideal area 2,400 feet wide 
and 35 feet deep, completed for seven miles 
with protecting jetties, the east one four and 
one-half miles and the west three and one-half 
miles long. Through the South Pass the chan- 
nel is at least 39 feet deep between parallel 
dikes 700 feet apart. It is 14 miles via the 
South Pass from the gulf to the head of passes, 
91 miles below New Orleans. The improve- 
ment of the several mouths of the Mississippi 
is the work of years and has involved all the 
skill of the Engineers of the United States army. 
Dikes, submerged sills with mattresses placed 
on the sills at the head of Pass a Loutre, 
through which 45.7 per cent of the waters of 
the river flow, and levees have been constructed 
at various places below New Orleans. The 
harbor at that city, which is about 104 miles 
from the Gulf, possesses the advantages of a 
seaport. It is from 1,500 to 3,000 feet wide 



WATERWAYS OF THE UNITED STATES 



89 



and 40 feet deep and has extensive wharves 
and other modern terminal facilities. It ac- 
commodates ocean-going vessels. Its domestic 
and foreign commerce in 1917 totaled 8,026,283 
tons. Its river commerce is increasing. 

Lake Pontchartrain, 40 miles long and 24 
miles wide, has a central depth of 16 feet. The 
principal channel is seven feet deep except 
through the dredged channel of eight feet in 
depth to Lake Borgne, which is in navigable 
communication with Mississippi Sound. _ The 
new Basin Canal, seven miles long, brings it into 
communication with New Orleans. The chan- 
nels of Chefuncte, which flows into the lake, 
and Bogue Falia, its tributary, 10^2 miles 
above Lake Pontchartrain, are improved to 
Covington, a distance of 14*/2 miles. The ton- 
nage of those waterways in 1917 was 288,630 
tons. Pass Manchac, rising in Lake Maurepas 
and flowing into Lake Pontchartrain, seven 
miles long, is to have a channel seven feet deep 
and 1C0 feet wide and will pass vessels plying 
the Amite River, Bayou Manchac and Tickfaw 
River to and from New Orleans. 

Tickfaw River flows into Lake Maurepas. 
It receives the Natalbany River two miles above 
its mouth and the Blood River seven miles 
above its mouth. Its channel is dredged to 
seven feet for 10 miles and to six feet from 
the 10th to the 26th mile above its mouth. 
Blood River is to be similarly dredged for four 
miles and Natalbany River and its tributary 
Ponchatoula, together, are improved for 15^4 
miles. The Amite River is to be cleared of 
obstructions for 110 miles above its mouth and 
its channel deepened and widened for 44 miles. 
Bayou Manchac is to be improved for 11J4 
miles above its mouth. Other bayous in Louisi- 
ana are being improved. An intercoastal water- 
way of five feet depth and of 40 feet wide on 
the bottom is being constructed from Bayou 
Teche near Franklin to the Mermenteau River, 
a distance of 45 miles. It extends through 
several lakes and through the Hanson Canal, 
purchased by the United States, for a distance 
of 4.2 miles. A dam across Schooner Bayou 
and a lock are to be constructed. It also in- 
cludes Schooner Bayou Canal 12 miles long, 
crosses White Lake 13^4 miles and includes 
the canals, connecting Turtle, Alligator and 
Collicon lakes and extends to Grand Lake 12 
miles wide. That waterway is navigable 
throughout the year. Another connecting inter- 
coastal waterway extends from Mermenteau 
River, Louisiana, to Sabine River, a distance of 
62 miles. It includes the Lake Misere Canal 
and passes south of Sweet Lake and then to 
Calcasieu River. It has a prism five feet deep 
and 40 feet wide and is to be seven feet 
deep and 75 feet wide from Mermenteau to 
Calcasieu River. It is open throughout the 
year. Bayou Lafourche, once one of the outlets 
of the Mississippi, has a lock at its head and 
a channel five feet deep and a bottom width 
of 75 feet through its entire length of 107 
miles. Its tonnage in 1917 was 766,203 tons. 
Bayou Terrebonne is 53 miles long and empties 
into a bay of the same name. It has a channel 
six feet deep from its mouth to Houma, a dis- 
tance of 24.11 miles. In 1917 its tonnage was 
188,411 tons. Bayou Plaqucmine is 112 miles 
from New Orleans via Mississippi, with which 
river it is connected by Plaquemlne lock. Ves- 



sels passing through that lock in 1917 varied 
in draft from three and one-half to seven feet 
and the tonnage was 205,741 tons. It forms 10.6 
miles of the waterway to Morgan City, La. 
That waterway also includes 19.4 miles of the 
Grand River, Bayou Natchez for six miles, 
Little and Big Goddel for six miles, Belle 
River for nine miles, Bayou Long for seven 
and three-tenths miles, Flat Lake and Drews 
Pass to Berwick Bay three and two-tenths miles 
and thence by Atchafalaya River three and 
two-tenths miles to Morgan City. Pigeon 
bayou connects Grand River with Grand Lake. 
The entire waterway is 64 miles long. The 
lock is 298 feet 7 inches long and 55 feet 
wide with 10 feet of water over the mitre sills. 
The tonnage over that waterway in 1917 was 
776,781 tons. The boats were of four to seven 
feet draft. Bayou Grossetete, a tributary of the 
Bayou Plaquemine, is being improved from its 
mouth eight miles below Plauqemine lock to 
above Maringouin, La., a distance of 29 miles. 
It will have a channel five feet deep and 60 
feet wide. Its tonnage in 1917 was 237,947 
tons. Bayou Teche is 125 miles long and joins 
the Atchafalaya River 10^4 miles above Mor- 
gan City. It is to have a channel six feet deep 
and 50 feet wide from its mouth to Arnaud- 
ville, La., a distance of 106^4 miles. It is to 
have a dam and lock at Keystone Plantation 
72^4 miles above its mouth and other regulat- 
ing works. In 1917 its tonnage was 693,622 
tons, but that passing Keystone lock was only 
10,172 tons. The Atchafalaya River, an outlet 
of both the Mississippi and the Red River, 
was provided with a channel from a point 
Yjy 2 miles below Morgan City to its mouth 
in Atchafalaya Bay, from 1,500 to 3,000 feet 
in width and from 20 to 140 feet in depth. 
The last improvement was from the 20-foot 
contour four miles below its mouth to the 20- 
foot contour in the Gulf of Mexico, a distance 
of 15^4 miles to give it a ship channel 20 feet 
deep and 200 feet wide The channel from 
Morgan City down will have a minimum* depth 
of 14 feet and a width of 200 feet. The ton- 
nage at Morgan City in 1917 was 814,713 tons 
and was carried in vessels of not exceeding 11 
feet draft. Vermillion River is to have a 
channel five feet in depth and 40 feet on the 
bottom from Vermillion Bay to Lafayette, La., 
a distance of 51 miles. Its tonnage in 1917 was 
32,810 tons. Mermenteau River is 71^4 miles 
long and is being improved its entire length 
and through Lake Arthur six miles, as also are 
25 miles of Bayou Nezpique, its tributary, and 
Mud Lake, all in Louisiana, which has a score 
of navigable waterways. The lower reaches of 
the Bayou Queue de Tortue, also a tributary 
of the Mermenteau, is being improved for a 
distance of 14 miles above its mouth. The 
lower section of the Bayou Plauqemine Brule, 
another tributary of the Mermenteau, is being 
improved for a distance of iq miles so as to 
have a channel six feet deep and 60 feet wide. 
Calcasieu River widens out and forms a lake 
of the same name 25 miles north of the Gulf 
of Mexico. The lake is 18 miles long and 
shallow. The river, including the lake, is pro- 
vided with a channel for 72 miles, which is the 
head of boat navigation of not less than six 
feet in depth. This improvement is carried 
through Lake Charles and West Lake, where 



90 



WATERWAYS OF THE UNITED STATES 



there are several wharves and boathouses. The 
mouth of the bayou is also protected by two 
converging jetties one and one-half miles long 
projecting out into the Gulf and there is a 
channel between them 200 feet wide and 12 
feet deep up to the entrance into the river. 
The channel from that point to a point above 
Calcasieu Lake is 80 feet wide and eight feet 
deep. The tonnage over that waterway in 1917 
was 763,619 tons. 

Texas. — The Galveston, Tex., district in- 
cludes 25 rivers and harbors. The entrance to 
Galveston Harbor is protected by two rubble- 
stone jetties extending from Galveston Island, 
which is 28 miles long, and Bolivar Peninsula 
out into the Gulf. The former is six and three- 
fourths miles and the latter is four and three- 
fourths miles long, their outer ends being 1,000 
feet apart. The channel is 30 feet deep and 
800 feet wide. Galveston channel is 30 feet 
deep and 1,200 feet wide from the outer end 
more than four miles westward to 51st street 
in Galveston, which is to be extended, but at 
the reduced width of 1,000 feet to 57th street. 
The seawall five miles long protecting the en- 
trance to the harbor is to be extended. The 
terminal facilities include a wharf system 
adequate to accommodate 63 or more ocean 
vessels, several miles of piers, grain elevators, 
transfer carriers and warehouses. * The ton- 
nage of the port of Galveston in 1917 was 
2,965,937 tons and the number of vessels enter- 
ing and departing from the port during the 
year was 1,539. A channel 200 feet wide and 
30 feet deep and four miles long connects 
Galveston Harbor with Port Bolivar at the end 
of the Bolivar Peninsula, where there is a turn- 
ing basin 1.000 feet square. The port is 
equipped with slips, piers, wharves and ware- 
houses. Its tonnage in 1917 was 109,227 tons. 
The Houston Ship Canal, 25 feet deep and 150 
feet wide on the bottom, extends from _ Gal- 
veston Harbor across Galveston Bay, with a 
bottom width, up the Jacinto River and Buffalo 
Bayou to a turning basin 600 feet in diameter 
at Long Beach and thence by a channel eight 
feet deep and 40 feet wide through Buffalo 
Bayou to Houston, Tex. The entire length of 
the improved waterway is 50 miles. It is pro- 
tected through upper Galveston Bay by a dike 
nearly five miles long. There are docks, ware- 
houses, terminals, railway tracks and other 
terminal facilities at Houston and a regular 
line of steamships between Houston and New 
York City. The tonnage of Houston in 1917 
was 1,161,424 tons. Some other bayous and 
streams entering Galveston Bay have been im- 
proved for short distances under various river 
and harbor acts of Congress, authorizing the 
improvement of West Galveston Bay channel, 
Double Bayou and the mouths of adjacent 
streams. In 1851-53 the West Galveston Bay 
and Brazos River Canal was constructed 
paralleling the coast but from one to four miles 
therefrom. It was 10 miles long and had a 
depth of six feet and a width of 100 feet. It 
was purchased by the United States govern- 
ment in 1892 at a cost of $30,000. A new water- 
way with a channel five feet deep and 40 feet 
wide on the bottom is being constructed from 
West Galveston Bay, through Oyster Bay and 
along the route of the Galveston and Brazos 
River Canal to Brazos River. Chocolate and 



Bastrop bayous and Oyster Creek are com- 
mercially tributary to that waterway. The 
channel between Brazos River and Matagorda 
Bay, a distance of Z2 miles, is to be five feet 
deep and 40 feet wide on the bottom. At the 
mouth of Brazos River and at Matagorda are 
wharves, docks and fish and oyster houses. 
That forms a part of the 202 miles of inland 
waterway extending from Galveston to Corpus 
Christi. The Guadalupe River is to have a 
channel five feet deep and 40 feet wide on the 
bottom for 52 miles to Victoria from San An- 
tonio Bay, which is 16 miles across, also to be 
dredged to similar dimensions to the main line 
of the inland waterway. 

The channel from Pass Cavallo to Port 
Lavaca, Tex., a distance of eight miles, is to have 
a depth of seven feet and a width of 80 feet. 
The channel from Pass Cavallo, the west end 
of Matagorda Bay, to Aransas Pass, extends 
through Espiritu Santo, San Antonio Mesquite 
and Aransas bays and is 63 miles long. It is 
also to have a depth of five feet and a width 
of 40 feet. It is equipped with wharves on 
Aransas Bay and at some other places. From 
Aransas Pass it follows Turtle Cove and passes 
through Corpus Christi Bay. That section of 
the inland waterway is 21^4 miles long. Free- 
port Harbor is at the mouth of Brazos River 
and is protected by parallel north and south 
jetties a mile more or less in length, and is 
being improved for six and one-half miles to 
Velasco, the channel being 18 feet deep and 
150 feet wide. There are some wharves there 
open to the public and regular sailings of ves- 
sels therefrom to New York. The tonnage of 
the port in 1917 was 334,693 tons. 

The Brazos River is 950 miles long and is 
navigable to Bolivar Landing. It had a depth 
of four to 20 feet above that point to Old 
Washington, 254 miles from its mouth, and 
that section is to be cleared. There is but little 
traffic on that river. It has been proposed to 
improve its channel to a depth of four feet as 
far as Waco by the construction of locks and 
dams and by dredging the open channel for 103 
miles. Aransas is to be protected by two rubble- 
stone jetties, the north two and three-fourths 
and the south one and three-fourths miles long, 
and by a dike on Saint Joseph Island, three and 
three-fourths miles long, connecting with the 
north jetty. 

The channel up to the town of Port Aransas 
is 100 feet wide and 17 feet deep, but down 
toward the Gulf it is 400 feet wide and 25 feet 
deep and still farther out it is 1,200 feet wide 
and 25 feet deep out between the jetties, where 
the dredged channel is to be 600 feet wide. The 
Harbor Island Basin will be thus extended. 
Other channels have been dredged leading from 
Harbor Island Basin. 

The Dallas district includes 11 rivers and 
harbors. Port Arthur Canal, seven miles long, 
extends from Sabine Pass to Port Arthur 
docks near Taylors Bayou. Sabine Pass, seven 
miles in length with a width varying from 1,700 
to 5,000 feet, connects Sabine Lake with the Gulf 
of Mexico. Its entrance is protected by jetties 
extending out four miles, between which is a 
channel 26 feet deep and 200 feet wide. The 
channel through Port Arthur Canal is to be 
26 feet deep and 150 feet wide to Fort Arthur, 
where there are two turning basins 25 feet 



WATERWAYS OF THE UNITED STATES 



91 



deep, one 600 feet by 1,700 feet and the other 
420 feet by 1,800 feet. At Sabine are wharves 
and other facilities. In 1917 the tonnage on 
the Port Arthur Canal was 6,984,286 tons. 

That canal cost $1,029,982 and was trans- 
ferred to the United States government without 
charge. The Sabine River, 550 miles long and 
700 feet wide, enters Sabine Lake through three 
passes. Neches River, 300 miles long and 650 
feet wide, flows into the same lake. A new 
waterway starting from Port Arthur Canal 
has a channel 25 feet deep and 90 feet wide 
through the land and 115 feet wide in the open 
lake and 150 feet wide in the open rivers and ex- 
tends through the Sabine-Neches Canal and 
Neches River to Orange on the Sabine River 
and from the mouth of Neches River to Beau- 
mont on that river, terminating in a turning 
basin 500 feet by 1,500 feet on each stream. 
There are some terminal facilities at Beaumont 
in touch with ocean-going vessels. The ton- 
nage over the Sabine-Neches Canal in 1917 
was 1,437,489 tons and on the Sabine River 
215,605 tons and on the Neches River was 1,066,- 
310 tons. Trinity River, Texas, 760 miles long 
and discharging into Galveston Bay, is being 
improved by the construction of dams and 
locks and by dredging. Thirty-seven locks and 
dams were recommended by the Engineers of 
the United States army. Those locks have 
chambers 140 feet long, 50 feet wide and a navi- 
gable depth of six feet over the mitre sills. In 
1917 only nine locks were completed and navi- 
gation was practicable as far as Liberty, 41^4 
miles above the mouth of Trinity River. To 
completely canalize the river to Dallas Tex., 512 
miles above its mouth and 370 feet above the 
tide water, is the present project partially com- 
pleted. The city of Dallas is bearing part of the 
expense. 

Other Gulf-State Waterways Development. — 
Red River is 1,275 miles long and from its 
mouth in Louisiana to Fulton, Ark, the distance 
is 482 miles. It is under improvement. From 
Fulton to Shreveport, La., there is a minimum 
depth of five feet and from Shreveport to its 
mouth there is a minimum depth of seven feet 
from December to June when the water is high 
and the river within its improved sections may 
be navigated, but not at other times. At high 
stages of water light draft vessels have and may 
still ascend as far as Denison, 763 miles above 
its mouth and 11 miles below the outlet of the 
Washita. At Denison there is in some months 
a depth of five feet in the channel. Lanesport, 
75 miles above Fulton, formerly was at the 
head of navigation, though boats occasionally 
ascended to the mouth of the Kiamichi, 158 
miles above Fulton, Ark. Some clearings of 
the channel and dredging has been done in the 
lower 51 miles of the Sulphur River, and dur- 
ing high water in the Red River there is a back- 
water flow into Sulphur River for 50 miles 
which render the lower reaches of the latter 
navigable for light draft steamboats for a dis- 
tance of 17 miles for rather irregular and short 
periods of time. The channel of the lower part 
of Cypress Bayou for 66 miles is being dredged 
and straightened from Red River at Shreveport, 
La., to Jefferson, Tex. A dam has been con- 
structed without a lock at the foot of Caddo 
Lake, which is 17 miles across. That dam cre- 
ates a pool extending 43 miles to Jefferson City, 



Tex., which insures a navigable waterway four 
feet deep. 

The Vicksburg, Miss., district comprises 16 
rivers and harbors, some of which have al- 
ready been described. The Ouachita River, Ar- 
kansas, is being improved by the construction 
of eight locks and dams and by clearing the 
channel so as to afford a navigable depth of six 
and one-half feet of water from the mouth of 
Black River, Louisiana, to a point 10 miles above 
Camden, Ark., a distance of 360 miles. The lock 
chambers are 55 feet wide and 268 feet long 
and have lifts of five and one-half to 14^4 f eet . 
In 1917 the tonnage over that waterway was 
178,136 tons. The Tensas, which has its source 
in Lake Providence and is 235 miles long, joins 
the_Ouachita and Little rivers to form the Black 
River, Louisiana. The Tensas receives, as a 
tributary, Bayou Mason, which is 270 miles long. 
The channels of both of those streams are being 
cleared and improved to make the Tensas navi- 
gable from Westwocd Place, 81 miles above its 
mouth, and Bayou Macon from Floyd, 112 miles 
above its mouth, so as to afford a navigable 
depth of six feet from January until June. At 
high stages those channels are 150 feet wide 
and eight feet deep. The traffic on the two 
streams in 1917 was 8,344 tons on the sections 
improved. Boeuf River, Bayou Bartholomew, 
Saline River, Bayous D'Arbonne and Coney are 
navigable for light draft vessels in their lower 
reaches during the months of high water. The 
Yazoo River, a tributary of the Mississippi, has 
a channel four feet deep and 500 feet wide its 
entire length of 178 miles. Loaded boats thereon 
draw four feet of water. The tonnage of that 
river in 1917 was 102,418 tons. The lower 115 
miles of the Tallahatchie and the lower 40 miles 
of the Coldwater rivers have been made navi- 
gable for vessels of three feet draft. Big Sun- 
flower River, a tributary of the Yazoo River, is 
216 miles long and is to have a navigable depth 
of four and one-half feet and a navigable width 
of 100 feet for 171 miles above its mouth. In 
1917 its tonnage was 61,017 tons. Several 
other smaller streams in that district have been 
improved. 

The mouth of the Yazoo River is opened up 
through Lake Centennial to the Mississippi for 
a distance of nine and three-tenths miles with 
a bottom width of 98y 2 feet and a depth of 
six and one-half feet. The canal is navigable 
all the year. In 1917 its traffic was 61,657 tons. 

The lock and dam in the Big Sunflower 
River at Little Callao Landing, Miss., create 
a pool of varying depth of one to 22 feet for 
61.8 miles up stream and render the river navi- 
gable to Pentecost, Miss., 124^ miles above its 
mouth. The Little Rock, Ark., district com- 
prises five rivers and the locks and dams on 
the upper White River. The Arkansas River, 
1,460 miles long, a tributary of the Mississippi, 
is to be improved from its mouth to Neosho 
(Grand) River, 461 miles. The Grand is navi- 
gable to Fort Gibson two miles from its mouth. 
Under ordinary conditions from February to 
July the Arkansas has a navigable depth of 
four feet from its mouth to Little Rock, 174 
miles, and some years it has a navigable depth 
of three feet as far as Fort Smith, 369 miles 
above the mouth. In 1917 steamboats ascended 
the river to Littles, 202 miles above its mouth, 
and gasolene boats ascended to Dardanelle, 261 



92 



WATERWAYS OF THE UNITED STATES 



miles above its mouth. Steamboats with barges 
of three to four feet draft operated as far as 
Little Rock for four and one-half months in 
1917. The tonnage on that river in 1917 was 
38,659 tons. The White River, 690 miles long, 
a tributary of the Mississippi, is being improved 
from its mouth to Batesville, a distance of 301 
miles, by the construction of works, dredging, 
etc. A lock and dam has been constructed one 
mile below Batesville, a second lock and dam 
seven and eight-tenths miles above Batesville 
and a third lock and dam nine and seven-tenths 
miles above Batesville, thereby affording all- 
year slack-water navigation for vessels of three 
feet draft from the first dam to Guion, a dis- 
tance of 33 miles farther up stream. The locks 
are 147 feet long, 35 feet wide, and have six feet 
of water over the mitre sills. At low water in 
1917, its controlling channel depth was three and 
one-half feet from its mouth to Grand Glaize, a 
distance of 241 miles, and three feet from Grand 
Glaize to Jacksonport, a distance of 123 miles, 
and 14 to 16 inches from the latter port to Bates- 
ville. Forsyth, Mo., 505 miles above the mouth 
of the White River, was at the head of steam- 
boat navigation. For seven and one-half months 
in 1917 a channel depth of six feet obtained 
from the mouth to Devall Bluff, a distance of 
124 miles. In 1917 the tonnage on the White 
River was 205,198 tons and that through the 
three locks was 16,014 tons. 

The Arkansas and White rivers enter the 
Mississippi River through a common inlet. The 
Black River in Kansas and Missouri is 300 
miles long and flows into the White River at 
Jacksonport. It is being dredged and being 
made navigable from its mouth to Poplar Bluff, 
Mo., a distance of 239 miles, by boats of 18 
inches draft and by boats of two and one-half 
feet to the mouth of Current River, a distance 
of 116 miles. In 1917 boats of three and one- 
half to five feet draft operated below Current 
River and boats of two feet draft above 
Current River two months. The Black River 
tonnage in 1917 was 154,281 tons. The Current 
River is 200 miles long and is being cleared of 
snags from its mouth to Van Buren, Mo., a 
distance of 94 miles, so that flatboats may 
ascend that far and have ascended 33 miles 
farther up the river to Jack's Fork. In high 
water steamboats ascend from the Black River 
as far as Pitman's Landing, 41 miles above the 
mouth of Current River. In 1917 the con- 
trolling channel depths were to Duff's Ferry, 32 
miles above the mouth, three and one-half feet; 
to Doniphan, 53 miles up stream, 14 inches, and 
to Van Buren, from 10 to 12 inches. The ton- 
nage in 1917 was 16,762 tons. 

Some work has been done toward clearing 
the lower reaches of the Saint Francis River, 
460 miles long, the L'Anguille River and the 
Blackfish Bayou to render the same navigable 
for boats of four-foot draft at medium and 
high stages of water from January until August, 
but the controlling depths in L'Anguille River 
and in Blackfish Bayou are due to the backwater 
stages of the Mississippi River. In 1917 a 
steamboat of three-foot draft operated as a 
weekly packet in the Helena- (on the Missis- 
sippi) Marianna- (on the Saint Francis) Black- 
fish commerce. The Saint Francis River to 
Marked Tree, the Blackfish Bayou to Fifteen 
Mile Bayou and the L'Anguille to Marianna are 



navigable by boats of four-foot draft at medium 
or high water. The aggregate tonnage on the 
three streams in 1917 was 344,278 tons. 

The Mississippi System. — The Mississippi 
River has a total length of 2,471 miles. Its 
channel has a depth of 35 feet from the Head of 
Passes to New Orleans about 104 miles from the 
Gulf of Mexico and a depth of 30 feet up to a 
point 227 miles above the Head of Passes, 
which is 13 miles from the mouth of the South 
Pass. It has a width of 250 feet. Thence for 
833 miles to the mouth of the Ohio River its 
channel has a depth of nine feet and a width of 
250 feet and thence to Saint Louis, a distance 
of 188 miles, its channel has a minimum depth 
of eight feet and a width of 250 feet, and 
thence to the mouth of the Missouri, a distance 
of 17 miles, its channel has a depth of six 
feet at low water and a width of 250 feet. 
From the mouth of the Missouri River to the 
Twin City Lock and Dam, it is 664 miles and 
to Washington Avenue Bridge at Minneapolis, 
the head of navigation, it is 669 miles, that being 
1,955 miles from the mouth of the Mississippi. 
In that section of the Mississippi River the 
channel is to have a depth of six feet and a 
width of 300 to 1,400 feet, to be obtained by 
means of contracting works consisting of wing 
and spur dams for narrowing the main channel 
of the river. In 1918 the depth of water at 
Rock Island Rapids at the lowest stages was 
only four feet. From Cape Girardeau, Mo., to 
Rock Island, 111., a distance of 452 miles, the 
Mississippi for most of the way is protected by 
levees as it is for 1,503 miles below Cape 
Girardeau. The channel has been improved at 
various places below Cairo. At Keokuk, Iowa, 
496 miles below the head of navigation and 173 
miles above the outlet of the Missouri River, is 
a power dam of 41 feet crest with a lock 400 
feet long, 110 feet wide with six feet of water 
over mitre sills. There is also a dry dock there 
380 feet long, 140 feet wide with entrance gates 
110 feet wide. During the 252 days of naviga- 
tion in 1917, steamboats to the number of 489 
and launches to the number of 233 passed 
through that lock. That replaces the old Des 
Moines Rapids Canal. 

The Moline Lock and Dam at the foot of 
Rock Island Rapids, 366 miles below the head of 
navigation, has a length of 350 feet, a width of 
80 feet and a depth of six feet of water over the 
mitre sills. One hundred and fifty-four steam- 
boats, 74 barges and 270 launches passed through 
it during the 265 days of navigation in 1918. 
That lock overcomes the swiftest part of the 
Rock Island Rapids. Le Claire Canal has been 
proposed 360 miles below the head of navigation 
of the same dimensions as those of the Moline 
Canal. 

Provision has been made for the construction 
of a power dam with a lock 350 feet long, 298 
feet wide and having a lift at low water of 33 l /i 
feet between Minneapolis and Saint Paul. That 
will make it possible for vessels to transport 
grain from the elevators and flour from the 
mills at Minneapolis to the Gulf of Mexico or 
to ocean carriers without transshipment. The 
depth of water over the mitre sills varies from 
seven to 10^4 feet. The upper Mississippi, from 
Saint Paul to Brainard, a distance of 170 miles, 
is navigable for light draft vessels, and from 
Brainard to Grand Rapids, a distance of 180 



WATERWAYS OF THE UNITED STATES 



93 



miles, it is to have a channel 60 feet wide and 
three and one-half feet deep at mean low water. A 
similar improvement has been made in the river 
between Aitkin and Grand Rapids, a distance 
of 125 miles and three and one-half feet depth 
has been secured. The large natural reservoirs 
at the head-waters of the Mississippi River, in 
addition to Itasca Lake, its source, and Cass 
Lake, 283 miles above Brainard, the head of 
navigation, include Winnibigoshish Lake, Leech 
Lake, Pokegama Lake, Sandy Lake, Pine River 
and Gull Lake, having an aggregate capacity of 
97% billions cubic feet. Their _ discharge is 
regulated by dams and controlling works at 
their several outlets and their waters keep up 
a uniform flow in the Mississippi as far down 
as Lake Pepin, 52 miles below Saint Paul. 
The waters of Winnibigoshish and Leech Lakes 
reservoirs flow into Pokegama reservoir and 
thence into the Mississippi. The Leech River 
has been dredged and improved for 27 miles 
and has a channel 100 feet wide and eight feet 
deep and the channel of the Mississippi was made 
eight feet deep and 100 feet wide above the 
Leech River and 125 feet wide below that river, 
that entire section of the Mississippi improved 
being 65 miles in length. New Orleans has five 
miles of wharves, of which three and one-half 
miles are covered with steel sheds. Natchez 
has some wharves and old landings. The 
harbor at Memphis is subject to thick deposits 
and requires much dredging as do many other 
harbors along the Mississippi. 

The Saint Croix River flowing through Lake 
Saint Croix, which is 25^ miles long, and into 
the Mississippi, 26.9 miles below Saint Paul, is 
being improved to obtain a channel three feet in 
depth from its mouth to Taylor's Falls, a dis- 
tance of 52.3 miles. 

The Minnesota River, 450 miles long, is to 
have an open channel to accommodate vessels of 
four-foot draft from its mouth at Saint Paul to 
Shakopee, a distance of 25.6 miles. 

Lake Traverse, one of the sources of the 
Red River of the North, is 25 miles long and 
through its narrows is to have a channel 50 feet 
wide and four feet deep. 

The Red River of the North flows northerly 
between Minnesota and North Dakota about 350 
miles and thence along the International bound- 
ary and thence into Lake Winnipeg. From 
Breckenridge to Moorhead, a distance of 97 
miles, it is to have a navigable channel during 
high and medium stages of water; from Moor- 
head to Grand Forks, a distance of 155 miles, 
it is to have a channel 50 feet wide and three 
feet deep, and from Grand Forks to the Inter- 
national Boundary, a distance of 143^2 miles, 
it is to have a channel 60 feet wide and four 
feet deep at low water. Red Lake River be- 
tween Thief River Falls and Red Lake, a dis- 
tance of 71 miles, is to have a channel of three 
feet depth. Regulating works are being con- 
structed at the outlet of that lake to control its 
discharge and the flow of the river in the in- 
terest of navigation. Warroad Harbor and 
Warroad River are southwest of the Lake of 
the Woods. The harbor has a wharf open 
to the public and the river, 26 miles long, con- 
necting the harbor with the lake, has a depth of 
eight feet. In 1917 the tonnage of the harbor 
was 8,500 tons. A harbor of refuge has been 
constructed in Zippcl Bay on the south shore of 
the Lake of the Woods. 



The Missouri River from its mouth to 
Kansas City, a distance of 398 miles, is to have 
a permanent channel six feet deep and 1,200 feet 
wide, though in 1917 the draft of steamers was 
three and one-half feet and that of barges from 
four to four and one-half feet, but in low water 
it was from three to three and one-half feet. 
From Kansas Cityto Sioux City, Iowa, a dis- 
tance of 409 miles, in 1917, it had a channel four 
feet deep, though the loaded draft of boats did 
not exceed two and one-half feet. From Sioux 
City to Fort Benton, Mont., the head of 
navigation, a distance of 671 miles, loaded 
vessels had an average draft of two feet in the 
upper reaches of that section of the river. The 
lower reaches of the Osage River from its out- 
let into the Missouri up to Linn Creek, a dis- 
tance of 109 miles, are to have an open channel 
80 feet wide and three feet deep. A lock 220 
feet long and 42 feet wide with an available 
depth of nine feet of water over the mitre sills 
and with a lift of 16 feet has been constructed 
seven miles above its mouth. That has made the 
lower 109-mile section navigable for light draft 
vessels. In 1917 its commerce was 28,171 tons. 
The Gasconade River is being cleared of ob- 
structions from its mouth to Gascondy, a dis- 
tance of 61.4 miles. It had in 1917 a channel 
of only nine inches navigable depth in some 
sections and two feet in others. It had a score 
cf small warehouses in the lower 39^4 miles of 
its course and a tonnage in 1917 of 24,523 tons. 

The Cumberland River in Tennessee and 
Kentucky has been improved from Burnside, the 
head of navigation, to its mouth, a distance of 
418.7 miles. That has been done by dredging 
and by the construction of locks and dams in 
its several sections. The average width be- 
tween Burnside and Nashville, 326.1 miles below, 
is 300 feet and from Nashville to its outlet into 
the Ohio River, a distance of 192.6 miles, it has a 
width of 400 to 500 feet. The channel between 
Burnside and Nashville is 150 feet wide and six 
feet deep at low water. There are six locks and 
dams in that section of the river below Nash- 
ville. Locks A, B and C are 280 feet long by 52 
feet wide, with six feet of water over the mitre 
sills, and have lifts of 12 feet. Locks D, E and 
F are 310 feet long and 52 feet wide with six 
and one-half feet of water over the mitre sills 
and have lifts of 10 to 13.3 feet. These have 
made the lower Cumberland navigable to Nash- 
ville and its tonnage in 1917 was 131,325 tons. 
In the section above Nashville, the river is 
navigable for light draft vessels for four or five 
months in the year during high water. Above 
Nashville are locks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 6, 7 and 21 
(locks 8 to 20 and 22 proposed in the original 
plans having been eliminated), each 280 feet 
long and 52 feet wide with six and one- 
half feet of water over the mitre sills and 
with lifts of six to 14 feet. These struc- 
tures set the water back so that a navigable 
depth of six feet will be provided within four 
miles of Burnside and over that distance a 
navigable channel of four feet depth will be 
obtained. The total water-borne commerce at 
Nashville in 1917 was 267,091 tons. That will 
undoubtedly materially increase after the im- 
provement has been completed and boat lines 
are established. The Board of Engineers of the 
United States army have recommended the con- 
struction of 10 additional locks, namely eight 
to 17 as originally planned, provided that the 



94 



WATERWAYS OF THE UNITED STATES 



States, counties and local agencies will save the 
United States harmless from claims for dam- 
ages due to overflowing lands along that sec- 
tion of the river. The total commerce passing 
through all the locks in 1917 was 683.529 tons. 
Tennessee. — The Tennessee, 652 miles long 
and formed by the junction of the French 
Broad and Holston rivers, four and one-half 
miles above Knoxville, Tenn., flows south- 
westerly into Alabama and westerly across 
the northern part of that State and thence 
northerly into and across Tennessee and north- 
westerly into and across Kentucky into the 
Ohio River about 36 miles above the outlet of 
the latter into the Mississippi. Above Chatta- 
nooga it is 700 feet wide, but below it is 1,000 
feet wide and at Muscle and Colbert Shoals it 
is more than 1,000 feet wide. From its head to 
Chattanooga, a distance of 188 miles, it is to 
have a channel 150 feet wide and three feet 
deep. A concrete dam and lock 265 feet long 
and 60 feet wide with six and one-half feet of 
water over mitre sills and with a lift of 25.7 
feet is at the foot of Caney Creek Shoals, which 
sets the water back for 24.6 miles, making a 
navigable depth of six feet. That 188-mile sec- 
tion is navigable for boats of three-feet draft, 
however, only When the water is at high stages 
from January to June. For short periods boats 
of four-feet draft may navigate parts of that 
section, but boats of only one foot draft can 
navigate that section all the year. Both Knox- 
ville and Chattanooga have a wharf with a 
warehouse equipment with conveyors. The 
shoals in the upper reaches of the Tennessee 
are being dredged. The total river tonnage 
above Chattanooga for the year 1917 was 613,- 
243 tons. Chattanooga is 464 miles above the 
mouth of the Tennessee. At Hale's Bar, 33 
miles below Chattanooga and 431 miles above 
the mouth of the Tennessee, is another concrete 
dam and lock, 267 feet long and 60 feet wide, 
with six and one-half feet of water over the mi- 
tre sills and with a lift of 37y 2 feet. That sets the 
water in the river back and affords a navigable 
depth of six feet as far as Chattanooga. The 
tonnage through that lock in 1917 was 15,681 
tons. Concrete dams and locks are to be con- 
structed at Widow's Bar, 56.1 miles below 
Chattanooga and Bellefonte Island, 72.1 miles 
below Chattanooga, or one concrete dam 17.9 
feet high and a lock at the latter place to pro- 
vide a navigable channel of six feet depth. The 
locks are to be 265 feet long and 60 feet wide 
with six feet of water over the mitre sills. The 
project announced by the War Department in 
1917 provides for an open channel, 150 feet wide 
and five feet deep at extreme low water be- 
tween Hale's Bar and Brown's Island, that sec- 
tion being 138 miles long, except in those parts 
of that section that may be canalized. The 
Muscle Shoals Canal opened in 1890 and com- 
prises two sections, aggregating about 18 miles 
in length. It had 11 locks from 275 to 283 feet 
in length and all 57 feet in width with different 
lifts, ranging from three and nine-tenths to 13.1 
feet and having from two and two-tenths to seven 
and five-tenths feet of water over the mitre 
sills. The locks in the 36.6 miles of rapids above 
Florence overcome 134 feet of fall in the river. 
The existing project provides for the construc- 
tion by the United States government of new 
locks, dams and a power-house, securing nine 
and one-half feet of water for 14.7 miles and a 



depth of five feet of water in the canals at ex- 
treme low water. The construction of dam 
No. 2 was approved in 1918. It is two and 
seven-tenths miles above Florence with locks 
300 feet long, 60 feet wide and total lift of 90 
feet. When the new project is completed, old 
locks Nos. 3 to 9, inclusive, will be submerged, 
but old locks Nos. 1 and 2 and locks A and B 
on the Elk River Shoals section will remain in 
service. This improvement not only provided 
for the navigation of the Muscle Shoals sec- 
tion of the Tennessee, but also for the genera- 
tion of electric power for the production of 
some of the nitrates used during the World 
War. A bill is now pending in Congress for 
the nationalization of that nitrate plant. 

From Florence, 208 miles below Chattanooga 
and 256.5 above the mouth of the river to Col- 
bert Shoals, the available depth of channel at 
extreme low water is five feet throughout the 
year. In that section is the Colbert Shoals 
Canal on the left bank of the river and nearly 
eight miles long with a depth of six feet over 
mitre sills. Its width is 140 feet. Its single 
lock is 350 feet long and 80 feet wide with a 
lift of 26 feet. The river tonnage between 
Chattanooga and Florence in 1917, was 170,968 
tons and through that canal was 38,286 tons. 

The Tennessee from Riverton to its mouth, 
a distance of 226.5 miles, is to 'have a channel 
150 feet wide and six feet deep at ordinary 
stages of water and at five feet deep at extreme 
low stages. The draft of boats in that section 
of the river varies from two to six feet. The 
tonnage below Florence in 1917 was 416,304 
tons. The French Broad River has been made 
navigable for steamboats of two-feet draft up 
to Dandridge, 46^ miles above its mouth, and 
at stages of high water as far as Leadvale, 
69y 2 miles above its mouth. The tonnage 
thereon in 1917 was 129,201 tons. 

Clinch River, a tributary of the Tennessee 
103J/2 miles above Chattanooga, is being pro- 
vided with a navigable channel two feet deep 
from its mouth to Clinton, Tenn., a distance of 
60 miles, and a channel one and one-half feet 
deep from Clinton to Walker's Ferry, a dis- 
tance of 66 miles. The usual draft of boats 
varies from 15 inches to three feet, but during 
periods of low water there is little or no navi- 
gation of parts of the river. Its tonnage in 1917 
was 8,983 tons. The United States Engineers 
have recommended that no further moneys be 
expended in its improvement. The Hiawassee 
River rises in northern Georgia and empties 
into the Tennessee, 36^ miles above Chatta- 
nooga. Its channel is being improved for 35 
miles above its mouth and is to have a width 
of 154 feet and a depth of three feet in the cen- 
tre and two and one-half feet the entire width 
of the channel. It has been navigated as far as 
Savannah Ford, though its present steamboat 
traffic does not extend above Charleston, Tenn., 
19 miles above its mouth. Its tonnage in 1917 
was 2,152 tons. 

North Middle States. — The next great water- 
way of the United States is the Ohio River, 
which is formed by the junction of the Alle- 
gheny and Monongahela rivers at Pittsburgh, 
Pa. Thence it flows southwesterly 968>4 miles 
into the Mississippi River at Cairo. The sec- 
tion between Pittsburgh and Steubcnville, Ohio, 
a distance of 65.7 miles, has dams Nos. 1 to 
10, the section from Steubenville to a point two 



WATERWAYS OF THE UNITED STATES 



95 



miles below Huntington, W. Va., a distance of 
245.2 miles, has dams Nos. 11 to 28 and the sec- 
tion from the last-named place to a point two 
miles above Madison, Ind., a distance of 242.7 
miles, has dams Nos. 29 to 40 and the section 
extends from the last-named place to Mound 
City, 111., a distance of 408 miles, and has dams 
Nos. 41 to 54, inclusive. The Louisville and 
Portland Canal was completed in 1830 by a 
Kentucky corporation to overcome the falls in 
that part of the river. It had three combined 
lift locks, each of eight and two-thirds feet 
lift, a width of 50 feet and a length of 200 feet. 
That has been enlarged and under the existing 
project it is to be again enlarged. The im- 
provement of the Ohio involves the construc- 
tion of locks and movable dams so as to pro- 
vide a minimum channel of nine feet of water 
in the pools formed thereby and the widening 
of the Louisville-Portland Canal from 90 to 
200 feet. Shoals form in the river and annual 
dredging is necessary to keep the channel 
cleared of obstruction and deposits. There are 
to be 53 locks which are to have usable dimen- 
sions of 600 feet in length and 110 feet in width, 
and having varying lifts from three and one- 
tenth to 29 feet, most of them having seven and 
three-tenths to nine feet lifts. Down to 30 
June 1918 the total expenditures under the ex- 
isting adopted project aggregated $28,578,032.38 
on new work and the amount expended on all 
projects in the improvement of the Ohio for 
new work aggregated $46,235,306.16. The ton- 
nage on the Ohio River including that over fer- 
ries for 1916 was 7,917,112.61 short tons, and 
for 1917 was 6,149,213.32 short tons. 

Pennsylvania. — ■ The Monongahela River is 
to be made navigable for 130 miles above its 
mouth by the construction of 15 locks and 
dams to afford slack-water navigation from 
Pittsburgh, Pa., to a point four miles above 
Fairmont, W. Va. The locks have a width of 
50 to 56 feet and lengths of 159 to 360 feet, and 
lifts of four and four-tenths to 12.8 feet and 
with five to nine and four-tenths feet of water 
over the mitre sills. The tonnage on the Monon- 
gahela in 1917, was 16,000,153 tons. 

The Allegheny River is 325 miles long and 
joins the Monongahela to form the Ohio at 
Pittsburgh, Pa. It is designed that it have an 
open channel from its mouth to the New York 
State line, a distance of 214 miles. Formerly it 
was the route for the pioneer and traders pass- 
ing between New York and southern Ohio. 
Locks 286 to 360 feet long and 55 to 56 feet 
wide with seven to 11 feet of water over their 
mitre sills and having lifts of seven to 12 feet 
are being constructed above Pittsburgh and 
three have been completed affording slack-water 
navigation up to Natrona, Pa., a distance of 24 
miles with a controlling depth of six and one- 
half feet. Slack-water navigation is to be ex- 
tended to Riverton, Pa., a distance of 37 miles. 
Its, tonnage in 1917 was 2,300,143 tons. The har- 
bor at Pittsburgh comprises sections of the 
Ohio, Monongahela and Allegheny rivers and 
these are 27.2 miles in length. The channels are 
from 300 to 800 feet wide and seven to 10 feet 
deep. Terminal facilities include wharves, 
(locks, hoists of various types and other equip- 
ment. The commerce of Pittsburgh for the 
year 1917 was 14,639,496 tons. 

The Youghiogheny River, Pennsylvania, a 
tributary of the Monongahela, is being improved 



by dredging and the construction of three 
locks, 360 feet long and 56 feet wide, with eight 
feet of water over the mitre sills and dams 
between its mouth and West Newton, 19^ miles 
up-stream, which will afford slack-water navi- 
gation to West Newton. The tonnage on that 
river in 1917 was 85,585 tons. 

Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio and Indiana. 
— The Little Kanawha, a tributary of the Ohio, 
has been improved for a distance of 48 miles 
from its mouth to Creston by the construction 
of locks and dams, thereby affording a navi- 
gable depth of four feet to Creston. The locks 
are 125 feet long, 23 feet wide and have a depth 
of four to 10.2 feet over the mitre sills and lifts 
of six and four-tenths to 12.4 feet. The ton- 
nage over that river in 1917 was 40,849 tons. 
The States of Virginia and West Virginia, im- 
proved sections of the Kanawha River, also a 
tributary of the Ohio, and packets and barges 
ascended the river for a distance of 90 miles 
at high-water stages. It is 97 miles long. Ten 
locks, 271 to 313 feet long, 50 to 55 feet wide, 
with six and five-tenths to 11.35 feet of water 
over the mitre sills and having five and sixty- 
five hundreths to 13.67 feet lifts, are being 
constructed at various sections of the 
river. All the dams are of the movable type 
except two. That will afford a navigable 
channel of six feet depth for 90 miles above its 
mouth. The tonnage on that river in 1917 was 
1,605,495 tons. Sixteen steamboats and 265 other 
craft navigated the river in 1917. The Wabash 
River, 517 miles long, flows northwesterly from 
Ohio across Indiana and southerly between 
that State and Illinois into the Ohio, 121 
miles above the mouth of the latter river. 
The Wabash in its original condition was 
450 to 1,300 feet wide and was navigable 
at periods of high water, when boats ascended 
as far as Peru, Ind., 366 miles above its mouth. 
li has been made navigable in separate sections 
and at different periods. A lock, 214 feet long 
and 52 feet wide, and dam at Grand Rapids, 
97.1 miles above the mouth, provide slack- 
water navigation for 12 miles. Through navi- 
gation is impracticable on account of the rapids 
and shallows in some parts of the river. 
The New Harmony Cutoff, 41^2 miles above 
the mouth, where there is a fall of six and one- 
half feet, is to be closed and the river dredged 
to afford a navigable channel of three and one- 
half feet at low water from the mouth of the 
river to Terre Haute, 214 miles from the mouth, 
but boats drawing three feet can make that dis- 
tance for less than four months of the year. 
Beats of 20-inches draft can pass from Mount 
Carmel, 96 miles above the mouth, to Vincennes, 
32 miles farther up-stream, at all stages of 
water, but cannot pass down-stream to the 
mouth of the river only at very high water. 
In 1917 about 800 boats passed through the 
locks at Grand Rapids. One of the principal 
tributaries of the Wabash River is the White 
River, formed by the confluence of the East 
and West Forks about 50 miles above its en- 
trance into the Wabash. It is navigable in its 
lower reaches for light-draft boats. The Scioto, 
Maumee and Miami rivers formerly were nav- 
igable and the latter two are in the route of the 
projected Miami and Erie Canal across Ohio. 

Kentucky and Ohio. — The Green and Bar- 
ren rivers in Kentucky are being improved by 



96 



WATERWAYS OF THE UNITED STATES 



the construction of six locks and fixed dams in 
the former, a tributary of the Ohio, and one 
lock and dam in the latter, a tributary of the 
Green River. The locks are 138 to 142 feet 
long and 35 to 35.6 feet wide, with six to eight 
feet of water over the mitre sills and having lifts 
of 11 to 20 feet. That improvement renders the 
Green River navigable for boats of five-feet 
draft all the year from lock No. 1 at Spotts- 
ville to Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, a distance of 
187^2 miles, or to Bowling Green, Ky., on Bar- 
ren River, a distance of 171 miles from lock 
No. 1 on the Green River. The tonnage in 
1917 was 252,841 tons. Rough River, Kentucky, 
125 miles long, another tributary of the Green 
River at Livermore, has been cleared of ob- 
structions and a lock and dam have been built 
near Livermore, Ky. The lock is 125 feet long 
and 27 feet wide, with four and nine-tenths feet 
of water over the lower mitre sills, and having a 
lift of nine and four-tenths feet. That struc- 
ture sets the water back and affords slack- 
water navigation to Hartford, Ky., 29^4 miles 
from the mouth for boats of four-feet draft. 
Its tonnage in 1917 was 12,701 tons. 

The Muskingum River is being improved 
from its outlet into the Ohio River at Mari- 
etta up to Dresden, a distance of 91 miles, 
by the construction of 11 locks and dams and 
four short lateral canals, affording a minimum 
depth of five and one-half feet. All the locks 
are 35>4 feet wide and 160 feet in length with 
the exception of lock No. 10 which is 159 feet 
long, and lock No. 1 which is 55^4 feet wide and 
360 feet long. The depth of water over the 
mitre sills is six feet or more and the lifts vary 
from four and eight-tenths feet to 15.1 feet. 
There are several warehouses along the river 
and its tonnage in 1917 was 92,426 tons. The 
improvement may be extended through the val- 
ley of the Cuyahoga to form the Ohio and 
Erie Canal. The Big Sandy River, on the 
boundary between Kentucky and West Vir- 
ginia, formed by the junction of the Levisa 
and Tug Forks, flows north 27 miles and emp- 
ties into the Ohio 10 miles below Huntington. 
Its improvement involves the construction of 
three locks and dams. Two locks and dams 
are 'being constructed on each of the Levisa and 
Tug forks. The locks are about 158 feet long 
and 54^4 feet wide. The improvement has ren- 
dered the Big Sandy River navigable by vessels 
of six-feet draft 27 miles to Levisa and the 
Levisa Fork navigable for 18 miles, and the 
Tug Fork navigable for 12 miles by vessels of 
six-feet draft. The tonnage on those rivers 
in 1917 was 88,344 tons. 

Kentucky. — The Kentucky River, formed 
by the North, Middle and South forks, is 
255 miles long and empties into the Ohio at 
Carrollton, Ky. It is being improved by the 
construction of 14 locks and fixed dams. 

That affords slack-water navigation for ves- 
sels of six-feet draft to points on the three 
forks above Beattyville, Ky., a distance of 280 
miles. The lower five locks are 145 feet long 
and 37 to 38 feet wide, with six and one-tenth 
to six and eight-tenths feet of water over the 
mitre sills and having lifts of 12^4 to 17 feet; 
these afford slack-water navigation for 88 miles. 
The remaining nine locks are 146 feet long and 
52 feet wide, with six to seven feet of water 
over the mitre sills, and lifts from 14.4 to 18 feet. 



Slack-water depth of five feet has been obtained 
for 260 miles up from the mouth of the river 
and the additional foot will be obtained as soon 
as the dredging is completed. In 1917 the ton- 
nage was 148,981 tons. Some years ago, the 
Licking River was improved from its mouth 
into the Ohio 125 miles up to West Liberty. 

Great Lakes System.— The Fox River, 176 
miles long, in Wisconsin, is divided into the 
upper and lower Fox by Winnebago Lake. It 
has a depth of six feet from Depere to Mon- 
tello, a distance of 125 miles, and a depth of 
four feet from Montello to Portage, a distance 
of 31 miles, and a width from Lake Winnebago 
to Montello of 100 feet. The lower Fox is from 
300 to 3,000 feet wide and 39 miles long. In its 
course it has 27 locks and 16 dams. The locks 
are from 136.4 to 148.6 feet long and from 34.3 
to 40 feet wide, the water over the mitre sills, 
varies from one and two-tenths to 14 feet. The 
Wolf River, which flows into it 10 miles above 
Oshkosh, is being improved from its mouth to 
New London, a distance of 47 miles, to afford 
navigation for vessels of four-feet draft. 

The head of navigation on the Upper Fox is 
Portage,_ except that during high water in the 
Wisconsin River, boats can proceed from Port- 
age into Wisconsin River and thence down into 
the Mississippi. The tonnage on the river in 
1917 was 161,060 tons. The further improve- 
ment of the Wisconsin River has been chiefly 
that of clearing the channel of obstructions. 
Formerly the Wisconsin River, a tributary of 
the Mississippi, 600 miles long, and the Fox 
River, 200 miles long, with a connecting canal, 
formed a continuous waterway from the Mis- 
sissippi to Lake Michigan. It was declared by 
the courts a public highway. Grand River, 
Michigan, has also been declared a public high- 
way. It has an improved channel, 100 feet wide 
and six feet deep, from Grand Haven, Mich., 
to Grand Rapids, a distance of 38 miles. 

A ship canal connects Sturgeon Bay with 
Lake Michigan. It is 7,200 feet long, varying 
from 160 to 250 feet wide, and the channel is 
being continued into Sturgeon Bay, a distance 
of four miles, having a width of 200 feet and a 
depth of 19 feet at low water datum. In 1917 
the tonnage through that canal was 720,803 tons 
and the harbor afforded shelter for more than 
100 vessels. 

The Chicago River, formed by the junction 
of the North and South branches, discharges 
into the Sanitary Canal and is only seven-tenths 
of a mile long. It has a channel 21 feet below 
low water datum in Lake Michigan. The head 
of navigation is Belmont avenue, five and five- 
fourteenths miles on the North Branch, and 
Ashland, four and eight-hundredths miles on the 
South Branch. In the Chicago River are nu- 
merous slips, docks and other terminal facili- 
ties. The Calumet River is seven and eighty- 
three-hundredths miles long and empties into 
Lake Michigan 12^4 miles south of Chicago. It 
is formed by Little Calumet River, 60 miles 
long, and Grand Calumet River, which is a 
lagoon 18 miles long. The entrance to Calumet 
River is to be 200 feet wide and 21 feet deep, 
and the improvement is to be extended up- 
stream five and forty-seven-hundredths miles 
to (( The Forks," with turning basins located at 
intermediate points. 

The river is navigable by vessels of four- 
feet draft from The Forks to Indiana Harbor 



WATERWAYS OF THE UNITED STATES 



97 



Canal, and by vessels of six-feet draft to River- 
dale on the Little Calumet, a distance of 12 
miles from the mouth of the river. The en- 
trance to the harbor is protected by parallel 
breakwaters. The tonnage of the river and 
harbor in 1917 was 10,269,304 tons. The Illi- 
nois River, formed by the junction of the Kan- 
kakee and Des Plaines rivers, empties into the 
Mississippi 36 miles above Saint Louis. It is 
273 miles long. Years ago it was navigable by 
Mississippi boats from its mouth as far as Utica, 
a distance of 230 miles. It is now being im- 
proved to secure a seven-foot depth at low 
water from La Salle, the head of navigation, 
to its mouth, a distance of 223 miles, by lock 
and dam construction and dredging. The locks 
are 325 feet long and 73 feet wide, with seven 
and seven-tenths feet of water over the mitre 
sills and with seven-feet lifts. The State 
of Illinois is co-operating with the Unite! 
States government in that improvement. 
The tonnage over the improved sections 
of the river in 1917 was 284,970 tons and 
the number of passengers transported was 
32,574. When improved, the Illinois River will 
form a part' of a continuous waterway from the 
Mississippi to Lake Michigan, the other con- 
necting sections being the Illinois and Michigan 
Canal, 63 miles long, extending from La Salle 
to Joliet and the Chicago Sanitary or Drainage 
Canal extending from Joliet to Lake Michigan. 
The Illinois and Michigan Canal, when con- 
structed was 96 miles long and extended to the 
South Branch of the Chicago River at Chicago. 
It had a bottom width of 40 feet, a surface 
width of 60 feet and a depth of six feet, and 
11 locks, which were 103 feet long and 17 feet 
wide, and had five to six feet of water over the 
mitre sills. That canal has been repaired and 
restored to a navigable condition. Another 
waterway connecting Lake Michigan and the 
Mississippi River is the Illinois and the Missis- 
sippi Canal, proceeding from the Illinois River 
at a point one and three-quarters miles above 
Hennepin, via the Bureau Creek Valley and 
over the summit to Rock River, and down that 
river to the Mississippi. It has a surface width 
of 80 feet, a depth of seven feet and 33 locks 
150 feet long and 35 feet wide. The main canal 
is 75 miles long and has a navigable feeder ex- 
tending from Rock Falls on Rock River to the 
summit level. Some improvements have been 
made in that canal, which were completed in 
1918. Its tonnage in 1917 was 15,662 tons and 
32,377 passengers were transported. The Ke- 
weenaw waterway, partly natural and partly ar- 
tificial, 25 miles in length, extends across Ke- 
weenaw Point in Michigan. It is a navigable 
channel 20 feet deep with a bottom width of 
120 feet, along which there are 32 privately 
owned docks. It affords access to a harbor of 
refuge for Lake Superior vessels. The tonnage 
passing through it in 1917 was 558,456 tons. 

Saint Joseph River in Michigan and Indiana 
was at one time navigable as far as South 
Bend, a distance of 50 miles. It now has a 
channel from 30 to 50 feet wide and from two 
to three feet deep, at low water, from its 
mouth into Lake Michigan at Saint Joseph up 
to Berrien, a distance of 22 miles. The harbor 
al the outlet including the outlet of the Pawpaw 
River and the Benton Harbor Canal is two and 
one-tenth miles long, with a channel 18 feet 



deep and 150 feet wide, two -thirds o! 



long, a turning basin and a canal 15 feet deep 
and 100 feet- wide to Benton Harbor. The 
tonnage of that port in 1917 was 115,138 tons. 
Saginaw River in Michigan has been improved 
and has a channel, 200 feet wide and 18^ feet 
deep, from Saginaw Bay to the mouth of the 
river three and one-quarter miles and thence 
16^2 feet deep to its source, a distance of 22 
miles. There are several thousand feet in length 
of docks in and between Bay City and Saginaw, 
which are situated on that waterway. The 
lower three and one-quarter miles of the channel 
of Black River in] Michigan has been dredged 
to a depth of 17 feet and the width of 160 
decreasing to 75 feet. Boats of small draft 
ascend the river five miles beyond the improve- 
ment. There are docks on both sides of the 
river for a thousand feet or more, all of which 
are privately owned. In 1917 the tonnage was 
80,006 tons. 

The Clinton River in Michigan, 60 miles 
long, has a channel eight feet deep and 60 feet 
wide at its mouth, which narrows down to 50 
feet up the stream. The improvement extends 
for about eight miles up the river and vessels 
of light draft ascend two miles farther. The 
lower portion of the Rouge River in Michigan 
has been widened and deepened for three miles 
or more from its outlet into the Detroit River 
up to Wabash Bridge or farther. Its tonnage in 
1917 was 1,954,470 tons. 

The Great Lakes and Connecting Water- 
ways. — Saint Mary's River is the outlet of Lake 
Superior and flows from Point Iroquois, 63 
miles southeasterly, to the Detour Passage into 
the northern end of Lake Huron. It has a 
total fall of 18 to 21 feet. _ Its improved one- 
way channels are 300 feet wide and 21 feet deep 
and its bothway or upbound an)d downbound 
single channel is 600 feet wide and 21 feet 
deep. There are four large locks in the Saint 
Mary's River located at Sault Sainte Marie, 
Michigan. The Weitzel Lock is 515 feet long 
and 80 feet wide with a lift of 20^4 feet. The 
Poe Lock is 800 feet long and 100 feet wide 
with a lift of 20*4 feet. The third lock is 
1,350 feet long and 80 feet wide with a lift of 
20y 2 feet. A fourth lock is 1,350 feet long and 
80 feet wide with a lift of 20^4 feet, nearing 
completion. The Weitzel Lock has a depth of 
12 6/10 feet of water on the lower breast wall, 
the Poe Lock has a depth of water of 18 feet 
on the lower breast wall, and the third and 
fourth locks have each a depth of water of 24^4 
feet on the lower breast walls. 

The Saint Clair River connects Lake Huron 
and Lake Saint Clair. It is 40 miles long. 
Its channel is from 20 to 22 feet deep and has 
a width of 400 to 2,400 feet. < A channel has 
been dredged through the Saint Clair Flats, 
300 feet wide and 20 feet deep. The distance 
through Lake Saint Clair traversed by Great 
Lake vessels is 18 miles, although the lake is 
30 miles wide. The outlet of Lake Saint Clan- 
is the Detroit River which is 28 miles long and 
flows into Lake Erie. It has several channels. 
Its Fighting Island Channel, four an)d one-half 
miles long, is 800 feet wide and 22 feet deep. 
Its Amherstburg Channel is 12 miles long, 600 
feet wide and ^from 20 to 22 feet deep. Its 
Livingstone Channel is nine and one-half miles 
long and has a width of from 300 to 800 feet, 
and a depth of 22 feet. These are connecting 
waterways between the Great Lakes. Both the 



vol. 29—7 



WATERWAYS 





1 Saint Marys Falls Canal. Upper approach to locks 

2 Saint Marys Falls Canal. Lower entrance Weitzel and Poe Locks 



WATERWAYS 




1 Steam trawler, built at a Great Lakes shipyard, passing through the New York State Barge Canal for use on the ocean 

2 Great Lakes vessel, partially dismantled, passing through the Barge Canal for ocean use during war emergency 



98 



WATERWAYS OF THE UNITED STATES 



United States and Canadian canals are open to 
the vessels of either country. 

The Great Lakes with their spacious bays 
and in-flowing tributaries are partly within the 
jurisdiction of the United States and partly 
within the Dominion of Canada. Such parts 
of them as are within the United States com- 
prise some of its most important waterways. 
Their waters wash the shores of Minnesota, 
Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, 
Pennsylvania and New York. Other States also 
are brought in touch with their manifold and 
extensive commerce. Their score or more 
spacious and improved harbors with the chan- 
nels of 19 to 23 feet in depth are frequented 
by the largest grain, ore and lumber fleets in 
the world, and the volume of their aggregate 
tonnage approaches, if it does not exceed, 
100,000,000 tons annually. They are equipped 
with all modern appliances for loading and 
unloading the large lake vessels, some of whose 
cargo capacities exceed 14,000 gross tons. In 
1917, the tonnage at the port of Duluth was 
52,411,824 tons, that being the largest tonnage 
of any inland port in the world. 

In 1917 there passed through the United 
States canals at Saint Mary's Falls, 10,469 
lockages of vessels carrying 74,361,850 tons 
of freight, and 11,990 passengers, and there 
passed through the Canadian Saint Mary's Falls 
Canal 5,349 vessels carrying 15,452,048 tons of 
freight and 26,349 passengers, making an 
aggregate tonnage passing through the two 
Saint Mary's Falls canals of 89,813,898 tons of 
freight and 38,339 passengers. In addition to 
these were the vessels with their cargoes and pas- 
sengers passing through other Great Lake ports, 
but not through Sault Sainte Marie canals. 
The lake tonnage of the port of Buffalo in 
1917 was 18,925,179 tons. Such other lake ports 
as Superior, Chicago, Milwaukee. Detroit, To- 
ledo, Cleveland, Ashtabula, Con'neaut, Erie, 
Tonawanda, Oswego and Ogdensburg had in 
the aggregate millions of tons of waterborne 
freights and in addition thousands of passengers. 
The commerce of the Great Lakes and connect- 
ing waters justifies the expenditure of millions 
of dollars annually to keep their harbors ade- 
quate to accommodate the several hundred lake 
vessels in the service. The Niagara River along 
its eastern margin has a ship channel 200 feet 
wide and 23 feet deep from Buffalo Harbor 
down five miles through the ship lock 650 feet 
long and 68 feet wide with 22 feet of water over 
the mitre sills into the deep waters of the river. 
The navigable channel at Tonawanda has been 
improved. Tonawanda Creek is also improved 
to make it navigable for lake vessels. The 
harbors and connecting channels of the Great 
' akes are from 19 to 23 feet deep at mean lake 
levels. 

Lake Ontario ports include Charlotte Harbor, 
with a channel, 200 feet wide and 20 feet deep 
up to the mouth of the Genesee River ; Great 
Sodus Bay and Little Sodus Bay, which have 
been improved, each having an entrance channel 
150 feet wide and 15^2 feet deep, protected by 
lengthy parallel piers ; Oswego Harbor with an 
entrance channel 16 feet deep and 600 feet 
wide up to the mouth of the Oswego River and 
Cape Vincent Harbor and the harbor at Og- 
densburg. The latter is provided with an upper 
entrance channel 19 feet deep and from 300 



to 450 feet wide, and also for a channel 19 feet 
deep and from 200 to 350 feet wide along the 
city water front, and also for a lower entrance 
channel and basin 19 feet deep and from 1,600 
to 2,100 feet wide along the lower wharf 
frontage. Ogdensburg is the principal Saint 
Lawrence River Harbor in the United States, 
and its tonnage in 1917 was 1,029,427 tons. The 
Saint Lawrence is the outlet of the Great Lakes 
and flows wholly through Canadian territory 
below its Long Sault Rapids a few miles north 
of Ogdensburg. 

Pacific Coast. Calif orma.— The Colorado 
River is navigable between the Laguna Dam 
and Fort Mohawk, a distance of 280 miles, by 
boats of 20 to 22 inches draft nearly all the year, 
provided channels be maintained through shift- 
ing bars of sand. San Diego and Los Angeles 
harbors have each been dredged and have en- 
trance channels 35 feet deep and from 400 to 
500 feet in width, which channels increase in 
width landward to turning basins. The ton- 
nage in Saq Diego Harbor in 1917 was 33,092 
tons, and that for 1917 in Los Angeles Harbor 
was 288,917 tons. 

San Francisco has the largest harbor on the 
Pacific Coast. It is 40 miles long and from 
three to 10 miles wide and its depths of 
water vary from 40 to 90 feet. It is a land- 
locked harbor. It has 50 or more piers averag- 
ing 700 feet in length. Its piers for handling 
bulk freight are equipped with freight-handling 
devices. The State of California owns the 
entire water front of San Francisco and its 
terminal facilities are publicly owned and are 
open to the public upon reasonable terms. Its 
tennage in 1917 was 9,294,366 tons. Into San 
Francisco Bay flows Redwood Creek which has 
a channel 150 feet wide and five feet deep for 
three and one-quarter miles up stream. Along 
it are several wharves. The commerce of that 
waterway in 1917 was 24,271 tons. Oakland 
Harbor is but a part of San Francisco Bay 
and has a channel 500 feet wide and 30 feet 
deep at low water through Oakland Estuary to 
Brooklyn Basin, a distance of four and three- 
quarters miles and thence it is but 300 feet 
wide and 25 feet deep around the basin, and 
18 feet deep through Oakland Tidal Canal to 
San Leandro Bay, a further distance of four 
and three-eighths miles, making a total length 
of nine and one-eighth miles. Its tonnage in 
1917 was 3,026,279 tons. 

San Pablo Bay in California is a waterway 
12 miles long and six miles wide, with a 
channel five miles long, 500 feet wide and 30 
feet deep. It is provided with 20 privately 
owned wharves equipped with warehouses and 
other facilities. Its tonnage in 1917 was 11,531,- 
518 tons. Suisun Channel, California, is a 
waterway 17 miles long with a channel 80 feet 
wide and six feet deep. In 1917 its tonnage 
was 62,842 tons. Napa River, California, is 
provided with a channel 75 feet wide and four 
feet deep, for a distance of 18 miles. It is a 
tidal estuary with a range of 6.92 feet at high 
water, giving it 11 feet of water at high tide. 
Steamers of five-feet draft, carrying fast freight, 
and sailing vessels of six-feet draft, carrying 
bulky freight navigate that river, whose tonnage 
in 1917 was 130,093 tons. Petaluma Creek, Cali- 
fornia, a stream 20 miles long emptying into 
San Pablo Bay, has a channel 600 feet wide 



WATERWAYS OF THE UNITED STATES 



99 



in its lower section and 80 feet wide in its upper 
section, having a depth of eight feet of water 
and is navigable for 16 miles. In 1917 its 
tonnage was 284,423 tons. Montgomery Harbor 
ir California in 1917 had a tonnage of 248,398 
tons. 

Humboldt Harbor and Bay, whose entrance is 
provided with protecting jetties, has a channel 
300 feet wide and 18 feet deep. Its tonnage in 
1917 was 463,901 tons. The San Joaquin Raver, 
California, has a channel nine feet deep and 
200 feet wide from its outlet in Suisun Bay to 
Stockton Channel and through Stockton Channel 
to Stockton, a distance of 45 miles. That 
channel is to be extended at the same depth 
through Freemont Channel and McLeod Lake, 
which form part of the harbor of Stockton. 
Another channel, one and seven-tenths miles 
long, four feet deep and 80 feet wide, is being 
constructed from Stockton Channel to Centre 
street in the city of Stockton, knowni as Mor- 
mon Channel. There are several improvements 
along the river and some terminal facilities. 
Loaded vessels on that river do not ordinarily 
draw more than seven feet. The existing 
project for the improvement of that river pro- 
vides for the diversion of the waters of Mor- 
mon Slough, through a canal, 150 feet wide, to 
the San Joaquin River. Its tonnage for 1917 
was 1,890,856 tons. Mokelumne River, Califor- 
nia, is 140 miles long and empties into the San 
Joaquin River, 20 miles above the mouth of 
latter. It has a navigable channel 50 feet wide 
and six feet deep from its mouth to Gait, New 
Hope Landing, a distance of 35 miles. Its ton- 
nage in 1917 was 78,954 tons. Sacramento 
River, California, is to have a channel seven 
feet deep from its mouth at Collinsville in Sui- 
sun Bay up to Sacramento, a distance of 60.7 
miles, thence a channel of four feet deep up to 
Colusa, a distance of 90 miles, and thence a 
channel three feet deep up to Chico Landing, a 
distance of 51.3 miles, and of such depths as are 
practicable up to Red Bluff, a distance of 52.4 
miles. The latter place is at the head of navi- 
gation and 254.4 miles from the mouth of the 
river. The river points are provided with 
wharves, warehouses and other terminal facili- 
ties. Its tonnage in 1917 was 947,690 tons. 
Feather River, California, a tributary of the 
Sacramento, 20 miles above the city of Sacra- 
mento, has a cleared navigable depth of two 
and one-half feet from its mouth at Vernon up 
to Marysville, a distance of 28.3 miles. 

Oregon, Washington and Montana, — The Co- 
quille River, 100 miles long, has a controlling 
depth of five feet and a width of 100 feet from 
its mouth at Bandon to Coquille, a distance of 25 
miles. There are wharves at Bandon and at 
various points up-stream. The outlet has a 
depth of 12 feet and the depth of channel de- 
creases up-stream. In 1917 its tonnage was 
40,050 tons. Coos Bay has an improved chan- 
nel X8 feet deep and 200 feet wide up to Marsh- 
field, a distance of 13 miles. Its tonnage in 
1917 was 446,062 tons. The Coos River, Ore- 
gon, flowing into the bay, has a navigable 
length of 23 miles. Its tonnage in 1917 was 
97,047 tons. Yaquina River, Oregon, has a 
channel 100 feet wide and 10 feet deep from 
its mouth to Toledo, eight and one-half miles, 
and above that town to the head of navigation, 
22 miles from the mouth, the channel is 100 feet 



wide and two feet deep. Tillamook Bay, which 
is six miles long and three miles wide, has a 
navigable channel 16 feet deep and 200 feet 
wide, and at its entrance it is 22 feet deep. It 
is protected by a jetty a mile long on the north 
side. The channel from Bay City up to Tilla- 
mook City, 12 miles from the sea, is nine feet 
deep. The Columbia River is 1,200 miles long. 
Only 748 miles of its course is in the United 
States. It flows southwesterly through the 
State of Washington into the Pacific Ocean 
between that State and Oregon. It has such 
large tributaries as the Spokane, the Snake and 
the Willamette rivers. It has an entrance chan- 
nel 42 feet deep and one-half mile in width, 
protected by jetties, the north one being two 
and one-half miles long and the southern one 
being seven miles long. The largest Pacific 
steamships may enter the harbor. The tonnage 
at the mouth of the Columbia River in 1917 
was 2,357,863 tons. A channel 30 feet deep and 
300 feet wide is maintained from its mouth up 
to the mouth of the Willamette River, a dis- 
tance of 99 miles, amd thence up the latter 
river to Portland, a distance of 14 miles. From 
the mouth of the Willamette River to Vancou- 
ver, Wash., a distance of four and one-half 
miles, it has an improved channel 150 feet wide 
and 20 feet deep. It also has a channel 10 feet 
deep and 300 feet wide in the vicinity of Cath- 
lamet. At Portland onf the Willamette are mu- 
nicipal and private docks, which include grain, 
lumber and > other types. At Astoria on the 
Columbia River is a large municipal terminal 
and there are many private docks. In 1917 the 
tonnage was 2,357,563 tons carried on ocean- 
going vessels and 4,326,681 tons carried on in- 
land river boats. The Cascade Rapids in the 
Columbia River, 140 miles above its mouth, are 
overcome by a canal 3,000 feet long with one 
lock consisting of two chambers, the lower be- 
ing 469 feet long and the upper one 462 feet long, 
both of which and the canal have a width of 90 
feet and lifts of from 18 to 24 feet, with eight 
feet of water over the mitre sills. The Dalles 
Rapids and the Celilo Falls, in a distance of 
nine and one-half miles, with a total fall of 81 
feet, are overcome by the Dalles-Celilo Canal, 
190 miles from the ocean, which canal has a 
depth of eight feet and a width of 65 feet at 
the bottom and five locks, each 265 feet long 
and 45 feet wide, with lifts of six and one-half 
to 70 feet. The canal is eight and one-half 
miles long. These canals render the Columbia 
River navigable as far as Priest Rapids, a dis- 
tance of 397 miles, and also render navigation 
possible on Snake River to Pittsburgh Landing, 
which is 540 miles from the mouth of Columbia 
River. The maximum draft of boats on those 
sections of the Columbia River is four and one- 
half feet. The Columbia is to have a channel 
seven feet deep between Watchee and Kettle 
Falls, a distance of 242 miles. Pittsburgh Land- 
ing, Idaho, on the Snake River, is 216 miles 
from its mouth and is being improved to se- 
cure a channel five feet deep to Riparia, 68 
miles above its outlet, and between Riparia and 
Lewiston, a distance of 72 miles, to secure a 
channel five feet deep and 60 feet wide, though 
for much of the distance the channel is from 
240 to 700 feet wide. The tonnage through the 
Dalles-Celilo Canal in 1917 was 57,718 tons. 
The Willamette, a tributary of the Columbia, 



WATERWAYS 




1 Gatun Locks (Panama Canal). Looking south from west- wall Lighthouse 

2 U. S. S. Arkansas (left) and U. S. S. Texas (right) in middle chambers of Gatun Locks (Panama Canal), 25 July 1919 



WATERWAYS 




1 Miraflores Locks (Panama Canal) (Sea-level section in distance) 

2 Pedro Miguel Locks (Panama Canal) (Gaillard Cut in distance) 



100 



WATERWAYS OF THE UNITED STATES 



100 miles from the sea, is to have an improved 
channel six feet deep and 150 to 200 feet wide 
from Portland to Clackamas Rapids, 11^ 
miles, and thence a channel six feet deep and 
100 feet wide to Oregon City, one and one-half 
miles, and thence a channel two and one-half 
to three and one-half feet deep to Corvallis, a 
distance of 106 miles. The Willamette Falls 
near Oregon City are overcome by a canal, four 
locks and a dam. The locks are 210 feet long 
and 40 feet wide, with six feet of water over 
mitre sills and having lifts of 10^4 f eet - The 
tonnage through it in 1917 was 113,954 tons. 
The mouth of the Yamhill River, a tributary of 
the Willamette, 42 miles above Portland, was 
formerly the head of navigation, but loaded 
boats now ascend as far as Harrisburg on; the 
Willamette, 33 miles above Corvallis. The 
Yamhill, eight miles above its mouth, has a 
lock 210 feet long and 40 feet wide, with four 
feet of water over the mitre sills and has a lift 
of 16 feet. That renders that river navigable to 
McMinnville, 18 miles above its mouth. Its 
tonnage in 1917 was 2,032 tons. Loaded boats 
below Oregon City are of five-feet draft and 
above that city they are of two-feet draft. The 
total traffic transported by 31 river boats in 
1917 was 491,901 tons. The Lewis River, 
Washington, a tributary of the Columbia, 26 
miles below Portland, divides three and three- 
quarters miles above its mouth into the North 
Fork, 106 miles long, and the East Fork, 36 
miles long. It has a channel six feet deep and 
50 feet wide to the forks. The East Fork has 
a channel four feet deep and 50 feet wide to 
La Centre, a distance of three miles, and the 
North Fork has a similar channel from its 
mouth to Woodland, a distance of three and 
one-half miles. Both La Centre and Woodland 
have terminals publicly owned. In 1917 the 
traffic on both forks was 25,262 tons, about onie- 
half that of 1916. 

The Cowlitz and Gray rivers, Washington, 
both tributaries of the Columbia River, have 
been improved in their lower reaches, the for- 
mer as far as Toledo and the latter for eight 
miles above its mouth. In 1917 the tonnage 
on the former was 310,992 tons and on the lat- 
ter 31,092 torus. Willapa Harbor is at the 
mouth of Willapa River, which is 30 miles long 
and is from 200 to 2,000 feet wide at the outlet 
of the harbor into the ocean. A channel 24 feet 
deep and 200 feet wide has been constructed 
from Willapa Bay to the forks of the river at 
Raymond, and thence up the South Fork, 150 
feet wide, to the Cram lumber mill, and also 
from Raymond up the North Fork, 250 to 350 
feet wide, to 12th street. The entire improve- 
ment extends 13^2 miles. The harbor is equip- 
ped with city and railway wharves open to the 
public use. In 1917 its tonnage was 567,510 
tons. Gray's Harbor at the mouth of the Che- 
halis River is 17 miles long and 14 miles wide 
and has a channel into it 500 feet wide and 24 
feet deep, with projecting jetties, on the south 
three and one-half miles long and oru the north 
three miles long. The tonnage at that port in 
1917 was 455,957 tons. The Chehalis River has 
a channel 18 feet deep at low water and 200 
feet wide from the bay to Cosmopolis, a dis- 
tance of 15 miles, and thence a channel six feet 
deep and 150 feet wide to Montesano, a dis- 
tance of eight and one-half miles. The traffic 



on that river in 1917 was 771,480 tons. Into 
Gray's Harbor also empties the Hoquiam River, 
whose channel is 100 feet wide and 18 feet deep 
for a distance of two miles. The commerce 
on that river is principally lumber. 

Puget Sound is a large bay in the western 
part of the State of Washington opening out 
into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It has many 
connecting arms and extensions, principally to 
the south and southwest deep waters. Into it 
flows the Skagit, Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Sky- 
komish, Stilaguamish, Nooksak, Puyallup and 
Duwamish rivers and connecting navigable 
sloughs. The conditions are such that perma- 
nent results are not obtainable and continuous 
dredging is necessary. Large vessels may navi- 
gate the sound proper, but only vessels of six- 
feet draft can navigate its in-flowing streams. 

At the south end of the sound is Budd Inlet. 
Upon this is Olympia Harbor, which has a chan- 
nel 250 feet wide and 12 feet deep, with turn- 
ing basins at the end of the improvement 20 
feet deep. One of these is 400 feet wide and 
800 feet long. The draft of vessels is limited 
to 10 feet. The tonnage of that port in 1917 
was 283,472 tons. Another arm of Puget 
Sound is Commencement Bay, four miles long 
and two and one-half miles wide, constituting 
Tacoma Harbor. That has one channel 500 
feet wide and 25 feet deep to 11th street bridge, 
and thence 18 feet deep to 14th street bridge, 
and thence from 500 to 200 feet wide and 15 
feet deep to a point 8,500 feet from the en- 
trance. The Puyallup waterway has a channel 
500 feet wide and 28 feet deep for two-thirds 
of a mile. That is at the outlet of Puyallup 
River. The tonnage at Tacoma in 1917 was 
2,912,530 tons. Lake Washington Canal ex- 
tends from the lake through several bays, in- 
cluding Shilshole, Salmon, Lake Union and 
Union Bays to Puget Sound and is wholly 
within the city of Seattle. That canal has a 
double lock 760 feet long and 80 feet wide with 
26 feet of water over the mitre sills and a fixed 
dam. Below the locks to deep water in Puget 
Sound, a distance of eight miles, the channel 
is 300 feet wide and 30 feet deep. Wharves 
and terminals are located on Salmon Bay, 
Union Bay and Lake Washington. The tonnage 
at Seattle in 1917 was 4,850,627 tons. Snoho- 
mish River has a channel 75 feet wide and 
eight feet deep for five and one-half miles 
above its mouth into the Puget Sound and its 
tonnage in 1917 was 1,038,477 tons. The chan- 
nel of Skagit River, 150 miles long in the 
United States, is being improved nine and one- 
half miles above its mouth across Saratoga 
Passage. The draft of loaded boats is limited 
to three feet. Its tonnage in 1917 was 554,797 
tons. Swinomish Slough, 11 miles long be- 
tween Saratoga Passage and Padilla Bay, has a 
channel 100 feet wide and four feet deep. Its 
tonnage in 1917 was 54,347 tons. Bellingham 
Harbor, Washington, is an arm of Puget 
Sound. It is four miles long and two miles 
wide. Through its outlet is the Whatcom Creek 
waterway, 363 feet wide, two-thirds of a mile 
long and 26 feet deep at the outer end and 18 
feet deep for the inner one-quarter mile of the 
improvement. The draft of loaded vessels was 
10 feet. The tonnage of Bellingham Harbor 
in 1917 was 434,340 tons. The channel in Flat- 
head Lake, Montana, is to have a channel 100 



WATERWAYS OF THE UNITED STATES 



101 



feet wide and six feet deep. Poison Bay at 
its southern end is a harbor six miles long and 
five miles wide. Loaded boats there were lim- 
ited to six-feet draft. 

Alaska. — Apoon Mouth is the most east- 
erly outlet of the Yukon River and empties 
into Pastol Bay, 115 miles south of Nome 
Harbor. The Yukon is navigable for river 
boats of five and one-quarter-feet draft 
to the international boundary, a distance of 
1,500 miles. Apoon Mouth has been improved 
for seven miles, having a channel from 150 
feet wide and six feet deep through the bars 
at the mouth. Saint Michael Canal, Alaska, is 
a salt-water channel 18 miles long, 100 feet 
wide and six feet deep at the entrance of Saint 
Michael Harbor. That canal provides a shel- 
tered passage for river boats plying between 
the port of Saint Michael and the mouth of 
the Yukon River. The tonnage thereon for 
the year 1910 was 24,622 tons. Nome Harbor 
on Norton Sound is tfre outlet of Snake River, 
a stream 20 miles long. The harbor is pro- 
tected by concrete jetties 400 feet long. It has 
a basin 200 feet wide, 250 feet long and eight 
feet deep. Its tonnage in 1917 was 17,981 tons. 

Hawaii and Porto Rico. — Hawaii has Hono- 
lulu Harbor, with an entrance channel 400 feet 
wide, 3,000 feet long* and 35 feet deep at mean 
low water. Since the opening of the Panama 
Canal Honolulu has become a port of call for 
coal and fuel oil. It has 22 wharves and piers. 
Its tonnage in 1917 was 2,037,424 tons. Hawaii 
also has Kahului Harbor and Hilo Harbor, both 
improved to a depth of 35 feet. The tonnage 
of the former in 1917 was 228,853 tons, and 
that of the latter was 357,406 tons. San Juan 
Harbor in Porto Rico has an improved chan- 
nel 600 feet wide and 30 feet deep with terminal 
facilities. Its tonnage in 1917 was 756,350 tons. 

Cape Cod and Panama Canals. — The water- 
ways of the United States also include many 
channels already described and also the Cape 
Cod and Panama canals. The former extends 
from Buzzard's Bay to Cape Cod Bay. It is 
from 100 to 300 feet wide on the bottom and 
was originally built by private parties, and may 
become a part of the Intercoastal Waterway 
from Maine to Key West. It is to be acquired 
by the United States and be given a prism 30 
feet deep, with a minimum width of 200 feet. 
The largest of the government owned and oper- 
ated canals is the Panama Ship Canal, approxi- 
mately 40 miles long, extending from Limon 
Bay in the Atlantic to La Boca Bay in the Paci- 
fic. Its regulated summit level is between S2 
and 87 feet above sea-level. The difference is 
due to the variation in the level of the Chagres 
River. That level is reached by a double lock, 
each lift being 45 feet, making a total lift of 
90 feet at the Atlantic end of the canal and at 
the Pacific end there are double lift locks in the 
Pedro-Miguel section and a single lift lock be- 
low Lake Miraflores. Approximately one-half 
of its length is through Gatun Lake and Lake 
Miraflores, natural bodies of water, thereby ma- 
terially reducing the original cost of that 
waterway. Its locks are 1,000 feet long and 110 
feet wide. The canal has a minimum bottom 
width of 300 feet, but an average width of 649 
feet, and it has a minimum depth of 41 feet. 

The Waterways. — There arc other water- 



ways not mentioned in this article compris- 
ing interior lakes and unimproved rivers. 
The foregoing enumeration, however, of 
waterways and the description of their 
channels are sufficient to indicate their 
cxtensiveness the country over as well as 
their importance to the commerce of the na- 
tion. Those hereinbefore mentioned comprise 
thousands of miles of navigable channels. In 
their construction and maintenance, the govern- 
ment of the United States has expended hun- 
dreds of millions of dollars. Furthermore, 
some States and many communities have con- 
tributed large sums toward waterway improve- 
ments. The policy of co-operation between the 
general government and the States and com- 
munities may become a settled policy and that 
governmental aid may be extended only when 
localities advance some part of the expense of 
making waterway improvements. That policy 
has been adopted in some European countries 
and has been recommended by one or more 
commissions of the United States. 

_ The data as to waterborne tonnage given in 
this article are chiefly from the official records 
for the year 1917. Over most waterways, it 
was not as voluminous as it was during the 
preceding four years, owing to the abnormal 
conditions prevailing the country over, in conse- 
quence of the Great War. Much of the com- 
merce of the country was diverted from water- 
ways to railways, which were under Federal 
control. The conditions in the year 1918 were 
still more unfavorable for water carriers and 
the waterborne tonnage, except ocean traffic, the 
greatest in the history of the country, was 
less over inland waterways than it was in 1917. 
The end of the war and the return to 
normal industrial life will awaken an ever- 
increasing demand for greater facilities of 
transportation. The waterways of the coun- 
try will furnish those facilities. The entire 
Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific coasts, the Great 
Lakes and the interior waterways of the coun- 
try are equipped as shown in this article to do 
a volume of transportation unparalleled at 
any other period in the history of. the world. 
Bibliography. — Various United States Coast 
and Geodetic Survey charts ; various reports of 
the Committee on Rivers and Harbors of the 
House of Representatives of the United States; 
many Acts of Congress of the United States; 
the Reports of the Chief of Engineers of the 
United States army for the years 1900-19 ; Re- 
port of Gen. William H. Bixby, Chief of Engi- 
neers, on the Intercoastal Waterway from Maine 
to Key West; various documents of the House 
of Representatives of the United States on 
Waterway Improvement Projects; Reports of 
the United States Commissioner of Corpora- 
tions on Transportation by Water in the United 
States in 1909 ; Reports of the Mississippi River 
Commission ; Reports of the Ohio River Com- 
mission; Reports of the New York State 
Waterways Association; Reports of the At- 
lantic Deeper Waterways Association ; Reports 
of the National Rivers and Harbors Congress; 
Reports of the Tennessee River Improvement 
Association ; Proceedings of the International 
Joint Commission on Boundary Waters ; Report 
for 1912 of the International Congress of Nav- 
igation; Reports of State Engineers of various 



II 






Cfi 






u 






PS 






H 






W 












fa 












55 




3] 


V) 






o 


3 


'. 


1 >■ 






2: 


f 




< 






fa 


? 


^ 


§ 


0) 




O 


a 






£ 


UJ 

i- 






8 






w 


< 




I 








< 




< 




s 






5 

UJ 


Q 
3 UJ 

H 

Z 
D 


(A 

< 
-J 
< 


FICE OF T 

U. S. AR 

1920 

lOT= 

Scale 






CO 






fa 








< 


UJ 

I 




O 

fa 


o 






o 


1- 




X 
H 


S? 






> 






Z 






< 






Q 






z 






fa 
OS 
< 
fa 
fa 
as 
fa 







/ 






^r 



r*> 



<o 



^ 



"'V, 



V 



III 



i 



«t 







T 



'$ 



V* 



102 



WATERWORKS 



States; maps and charts of various sections 
of the United States ; reports of Municipal 
Harbor Improvement Commissions, and many 
other records. 

Henry Wayland Hill, 
President of the New York State Waterways 
Association, author of the articles on a Rain- 
fall^ and i( Water Supply* in this Encyclopedia 
and of ^Waterways and Canal Construction in 
New York.* 

WATERWORKS, systems of machinery 
and engineering structures, employed to supply 
water to individual manufacturing, mining and 
milling plants, and to municipalities, for domes- 
tic and industrial uses and for irrigation. Such 
systems existed during very early periods of 
history, and the waterworks of ancient Greece, 
Carthage and Rome may be, readily traced and 
studied by the ruins of their reservoirs and 
masonry aqueducts. In these earlier systems, 
gravity was depended upon for the delivery of 
the water, but force pumps were introduced 
about the middle of the 16th century, and ex- 
tended greatly the general installation and use 
of waterworks systems. The waterworks built 
at London Bridge by Peter Maurice 1562 appear 
to be the first on record. The plant consisted 
of 16 force pumps, each 17 inches in diameter, 
and 30 inches long, which were driven by a cur- 
rent wheel, and raised 311,000 gallons of water 
per day to a reservoir at an elevation of 120 
feet above the pumps, and from which the water 
was delivered iby gravity, through lead pipes to 
buildings in the immediate vicinity. 

In the United States, the first pumping plant 
installed to provide water for municipal pur- 
poses was that at Bethlehem, Pa., about 1760. 
It consisted of a five-inch wooden force pump, 
which raised water to a height of 70 feet 
through pipes' of bored hemlock logs. This 
was replaced in 1761 by three single-acting iron 
pumps, each four inches in diameter, and of 
18-inch stroke, operated by an undershot 
water-wheel. The first municipal water-supply 
system built in America, however, was that of 
Boston, in 1652. It was built by the Water- 
Works Company, and consisted of a reservoir 
about 12 feet square, to which the water from 
springs in the vicinity was conveyed through 
wooden pipes. From 1652 up to the close of the 
year 1800, the waterworks plants in the United 
States numbered 16, and had been located and 
built at the following named cities : Boston, 
Mass., 1652; Bethlehem, Pa., 1754-61; Provi- 
dence, R. I, 1772; Geneva, N. Y., 1787; Ply- 
mouth, Mass., 1796; Salem, Mass., 1795; Hart- 
ford, Conn., 1797; Portsmouth, N. H., 1798; 
Worcester, Mass., 1798; Albany, N. Y., 1798- 
99; Peabody, Mass., 1799; New York City, 1799; 
Morristown, N. J., 1799; Lynchburg, Va., 1799; 
Winchester, Va., 1799-1800; and Newark, N. J., 
1800. With the exception of the plants at Win- 
chester and Morristown, they were all built by 
private concerns, but passed into the ownership 
of the respective municipalities from time to 
time up to 1860. The works at Winchester 
were built by the municipality, and those at 
Morristown were built by a private concern and 
still remain in private ownership. Up to the 
present time (1919) the number of plants in- 
stalled throughout the country amounts to 
nearly 4,000, of which four-fifths are under 
municipal control. 

A clear and concise consideration of the sub- 



ject of waterworks may be facilitated by ar- 
ranging the various requirements under the four 
general headings — quality of the water ; sources 
of supply; modes of distribution, and public 
policy. 

Quality expresses the fitness of the water for 
the special purposes for which it may be re- 
quired. A good quality of water is character- 
ized by freedom from turbidity and color, un- 
pleasant taste and odor, and undue sewage con- 
tamination. 

Taste is the first quality to be satisfied in 
drinking water. Even a perfectly safe water 
may be rejected because of nauseating flavor. 
This may often be remedied by dosing with 
chlorine and then removing the chlorine taste 
with sodium sulphite. 

Turbidity is a condition caused by clay and 
silt suspended in the water. When the source 
of supply is a river, this condition is liable to 
great variation according to the amount and 
character of the rainfall over the watershed. 
Heavy rains of short duration are drained off 
with great erosive effect, and introduce into the 
flowing rivers vast quantities of finely divided 
inorganic matter. Such impurity, however, is 
more offensive than harmful, unless taken into 
the system frequently or in large quantities. It 
is removed by the use of settling reservoirs 
where the water is allowed to rest and deposit 
the heavier particles, before it is passed through 
the filter-beds by which the smaller particles are 
removed. (See Water Supply). Color is a 
condition more offensive to the eye than harm- 
ful to the health. The apparent color due to 
turbidity disappears under the processes of sed- 
imentation and filtration, but true color, gen- 
erally due to infusion of vegetable organic 
matter, such as leaves, grass, etc., is much more 
difficult to remove. 

Odor is a condition which, although less fre- 
quent, is much more objectionable than turbidity 
or color. As a rule it is due to the life proc- 
esses of minute organisms, and is removable to 
a considerable degree by filtration. It may, 
however, persist at certain times in the year 
and has been known to produce, or be followed 
by bowel disturbances among small children. 

Sewage contamination is the most harmful 
of all the various forms of impurities natural 
or artificial that a water supply may be sub- 
jected to, and is the direct cause of epidemics 
of typhoid fever and various troubles of the 
intestines, which by undermining the constitu- 
tion reduces its power of resistance to other dis- 
eases. The water may be somewhat purified by 
filtration, but the proper remedy is to remove 
the source of pollution. Failing this, even a 
much polluted water may be made reasonably 
safe for drinking by sterilization with chlorine. 

The quality of water is ascertained by vari- 
ous kinds of analyses, physical, chemical 
and bacteriological. Physical analyses consist 
merely of comparisons of the given samples with 
standard solutions, and afford data relative to 
temperature, turbidity, color and odor. Chem- 
ical analyses indicate the time of past contami- 
nation and the nature of its origin — animal or 
vegetable, and the content of mineral salts. 
Bacteriological analyses are principally used to 
ascertain the absence or presence of the growths 
which cause bad taste and odor. Such analyses 
are capable of showing the number and prob- 
able origin of the bacteria present, but in mat- 



